Gowa (ANTARA) \u2013 Ashari Samadikun, captain of the MT Hanour 25 and one\nof the crew members held hostage by Somali pirates before being\nrepatriated by the government, said he was grateful to have survived and\nto be reunited with his family, but remained traumatised by what he had\nexperienced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can put off (considering whether to sail again). I\u2019m still trying\nto recover emotionally, because even now I can\u2019t (decide). I keep\nthinking about my crew and seeing them in my mind, because I saw someone\nbeing shot with my own eyes,\u201d Ashari said in Gowa, South Sulawesi, on\nThursday.<\/p>\n
He said the male hostages had managed to endure five months aboard\nthe ship, from 21 April until their release on 29 September 2026. Their\nfamilies, meanwhile, had been anxiously waiting for good news.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what makes me so sad. I hoped we could all return safely.\nBut Allah SWT had other plans. Two of my crew could not come home, and\nthat is why I am still so deeply affected,\u201d said Ashari, who was in\ncharge of the ship.<\/p>\n
He recalled that before the ship\u2019s cook died, the man called out to\nhim, in words Ashari translated from English: \u201cCaptain, please help me.\nDon\u2019t leave me, don\u2019t die, stay strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor five months, we were on that ship. It was oppressive, especially\nmentally. We lost hope in the third month. That month, there were no\nmore phone calls and no communication at all. The food had run out, all\nthe generators had broken down, and the equipment had stopped working,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Their suffering worsened when the fresh-water production machine\nbroke down. They changed its motor several times. \u201cBut, thank God, we\nprayed and looked for a way forward. Thank God, we found a way to get\nthe machine running,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters at his home in Moncongloe Hamlet, Paccellekang\nvillage, Pattallassang district, Gowa, South Sulawesi, Ashari said what\nsaddened him most was that the crew member who died about four months\ninto the captivity had never been able to contact his family.<\/p>\n
The pirates allowed Ashari to make video calls so that news could be\nsent to Indonesia and other countries, and he could tell his family he\nwas still alive. The other crew members were not given access to\ntelephone or video calls with their families.<\/p>\n
Despite the despair of captivity, Ashari continued to encourage the\ncrew to stay calm and keep going. He said this helped all 17 crew\nmembers endure.<\/p>\n
\u201cEncouragement was what kept us calm. We thought the ransom would be\nno small amount. There was a time when there was no communication from\nthe government or from the Pakistani NGO. Our lives on the ship were\nprecarious; food and drink were running critically low.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought perhaps this was where our lives would end, where our\nstruggle would end. But I did not dare tell the crew. I reassured them:\n\u2018God willing, we\u2019ll go home.\u2019 That was the hardest part, when someone\ndied. But we kept supporting one another and surrendered ourselves to\nAllah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ashari said the pirates initially demanded a ransom of US$7 million.\nThe sum was enormous and could not be raised quickly, given that 17\npeople were being held, but the pirates remained adamant.<\/p>\n
\u201cI argued with them. I told them it was impossible. I explained how\nmuch oil the ship could carry, how much the oil was worth and how much\nthe ship was worth. It was not logical; no one could pay that. Even if\nit took one year or three years, it would never be paid,\u201d he\nrecalled.<\/p>\n
The demand was then negotiated down to US$4 million and subsequently\nto US$3 million and US$2 million, before reaching US$1.5 million. Ashari\nsaid he acted as an interpreter and tried to persuade the pirates that\nthe amount would be difficult to meet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank God, they understood. They agreed to reduce it all the way to\nUS$1.5 million. But I don\u2019t know which country\u2019s side paid it, or\nwhether it was paid, because two people were sent. The first was Leslie,\nfrom the UK, who handled the ransom negotiations. The other provided\nmedical assistance and food,\u201d he added.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ashari-still-traumatised-after-being-held-hostage-by-somali-pirates-1791478406", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }