After 5 months of kidnapping in Somalia, Egyptian sailors arrive in Cairo

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The eight Egyptian sailors who were kidnapped on board the oil tanker "M/T Eureka" arrived at Cairo Airport on Sunday evening, coming from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after about 5 months of detention.

Their families and loved ones received them in an atmosphere in which feelings of joy were mixed with tears after the end of a long ordeal they had lived far from their homeland.

The return of the sailors came after intense diplomatic and security movements led by the Egyptian state during the past weeks to ensure their safety and secure their release.

These efforts resulted in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration announcing, on September 30, officially ending their detention crisis and securing their return to the country.

Details of the crisis go back to May 2, when the oil tanker M/T Eureka was attacked by pirates off the coast of Yemen.

After taking control of the ship, the kidnappers took the crew to the coast of the Puntland region in northeastern Somalia, where the eight sailors remained detained for the past five months, before Egyptian efforts succeeded in securing their release and returning them safely to their families.

Earlier, the sailors narrated details of the suffering they experienced during the kidnapping period.

Sailor Sameh Abdel Azim told Al Arabiya.net/Al Hadath.net that what they experienced was like “scenes from horror movies,” explaining that the pirates suddenly attacked the ship in early May without any prior warning.

Abdel Azim also added that the crew members lived through harsh days characterized by hunger, insults, and lack of water, and they woke up daily to the sounds of gunfire, which led them at some moments to believe that they would never be able to see their families again.

For his part, the sailor Ahmed Mahmoud revealed that the pirates used the crew members as a pressure card to obtain financial ransom, noting that they were allowing the sailors to communicate with their families to force them to provide the required funds, which increased the feelings of fear and anxiety among the detainees and their families.

Mahmoud also pointed out that the state of despair led sailors at some stages to think about confronting armed pirates and trying to free themselves, despite their awareness of the danger of taking such a step in the face of heavily armed elements.

As for the last hours before their release, Abdel Azim explained that the sailors were forced to descend from a mountainous area before carrying out a landing operation and intervention by the Somali Special Forces in coordination with the kidnappers.

He also added that they did not realize the truth of what was happening until they were informed that they were free and would return to Egypt, thus ending a detention trip that lasted 5 full months.