By Kang Hyun-kyung
The 54-year-old captain of the Korean fishing boat freed last week after four month captivity by Somali pirates recalled that his captors were well-trained and organized.
In a diary obtained by Yonhap News, Kim Dae-keun, captain of the fishing vessel Keummi 305, said all pirates were assigned specific tasks and responsibilities and they worked like a professional team.
Kim said there were one leader and an interpreter who had fluent command of English, while the remainder were gunmen prepared to go on raids.
The fishing vessel with a crew of 43 was hijacked by Somali pirates near Kenya’s Lamu Island last October.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) said they were released without paying a ransom.
Citing a source, however, Yonhap News reported that the vessel and the mariners were released after $50,000 was paid to cover food served and petrol needed for the ship over the four months. MOFAT denied the report.
During captivity, the ship’s captain confessed that he was sometimes angry toward the Korean government, as well as the media, as he saw foreign ships, which were hijacked by pirates around the same time period that Keummi 305 was seized, being released after ransoms were paid.
Kim once attempted unsuccessfully to provide the pirates with drinking water containing sleeping pills. “My endeavor, however, was foiled as a Kenyan cook refused to put my idea into action, fearing revenge in case collaboration was revealed,” he said in his diary.
The captain said he and his crewmembers were forced to team up with pirates for piracy in the Indian Ocean. The pirates promised to release Kim and other sailors if they hijacked another vessel. But they didn’t keep the promise, he said.
The diary having detailed accounts of the 124 days of the captivity of the captain was disclosed after Kim arrived in a Kenyan port, Tuesday.
The 43 mariners are scheduled to have medical checkups and be questioned by two South Korean government officials.
The investigators plan to focus on how the fishing boat and crewmembers came to be seized and other details of the captivity.