Ruwan Sampath, the chief officer of Aris 13, the oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates, has expressed his heartfelt gratitude to President Maithripala Sirisena, foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera and other government  officials as well as TV Derana for the assistance in securing the release of the vessel and its crew. 

Speaking to Ada Derana over the phone, he stated that TV Derana and other Sri Lankan media played an important role by constantly providing updates on their situation and constantly keeping in touch with them. 

Sampath stated that their captors made off with all his belonging apart from his mobile phone and the clothes he was wearing.

Reminiscing about their harrowing ordeal, the chief officer said that the Somali pirates, who were armed to the teeth, first attacked the ship on Monday (13) and that they escorted the ship back towards their country. 
  
He stated that afterwards a different team of pirates took over and that they were aware that Somalian security forces would attack as boats were starting to circulate near the ship. 

He said that the vessel was later taken to another location the same night and that the ship’s lights and navigation were switched off. But they didn’t turn off the AI, they secretly covered it, he said. 

Sampath stated that after a little while another team called ‘Falula’ arrived and took over and anchored the vessel. That is when the local security forces personnel started attacking and every time they attacked we were put outside, he said. 

He stated that they were told they would be killed if the forces attacked and that they were mostly traumatized mentally by the pirates, who did not hit them even once. 

The chief officer said that they were not provided much food and that even the ship’s food supplies were taken away by the pirates. They didn’t leave a single thing, he said. 

He stated that although none of them were harmed, the vessel had sustained some minor damages.

He said that Somalia has a Special Forces unit just for pirates and that they were responsible for carrying out the attack which saved them. He stated that after the pirates left, the forces took over and escorted them out of the area. 

The rescued oil tanker along with the Sri Lankan crew members are currently being escorted by a French warship and Somalian marine forces to Bossaso in Somalia.