Koickal House at Chumgom near here is in a state of anticipated elation. The family of Hari C Nair, one of the crew members of MV Savina Caylyn, the Italian flagged oil tanker abducted by Somalian pirates last February, is expecting his arrival on Tuesday morning.
According to Mr Hari’s mother Omana, her son would finally arrive by 4 am at Kochi from Dubai.
Mr. Hari was with merchant navy for more than seven years when tragedy struck last year. It was on February 8, 2011, that the tanker was seized by pirates near Sokkotra Island nearly 500 miles off India’s Western coast. The tanker carrying crude oil was on its way to Malaysia from Sudan. The vessel had a 22 member crew, 17 of them Indians and the rest, Italians. According reports the pirate who came in skiffs attacked the ship with rocket launched grenades before taking it over.
Ever since, the only link his family with Mr Hari was an occasional phone call to his mother, wife and brother who led a life of prayer for the past eleven months.
One of the longest custodial periods in recent Somali pirate history came to a happy ending on December 21 when the crew and the ship were released by the pirates. They were with the ship for a few days more for repair and maintenance before the ship was escorted out of the zone by Italian Navy vessels.
Mr. Hari and other crew members arrived in Dubai on January 7. Two more Malayalee members of the crew, Vijesh Balakrishnan of Koilandi and Fasil Sheik of Kanjanhad have also arrived in Dubai for their journey back home.
