PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: The 80 crew members of MISC's MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima arrived home safely early yesterday morning.

MISC president and CEO Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas said they were flown in via a special flight at 4.15am.

However, it was unclear as to where the aircraft landed - at the Subang RMAF base or the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport.

The sailors were immediately whisked off to a hotel in Subang Jaya where they were reunited with their families.

The Bunga Melati Dua, with 29 Malaysians and 10 Filipinos on board, was hijacked at 10.09pm on Aug 19, while the Bunga Melati Lima, with 36 Malaysians and five Filipinos on board, was hijacked in Yemeni waters at 9.50pm on Aug 29. The ships were released by Somali pirates after a ransom was paid. Media reports claimed the MISC had paid US$2mil (RM6.9mil) for the release of each vessel.

A relative of one of the crew members said the MISC had invited them to spend Thursday night at the hotel, in anticipation of the arrival of their loved ones.

She said the crew members and their families were debriefed at the hotel ballroom and warned not to speak to the media. "I don't see why not, as he is now back safe and sound," she said.

One crew member said the pirates seized their valuables and food was rationed during their detention.

Members of the press were tipped-off that the crew would be flying in from the East African port of Djibouti and had waited at the KL International Airport since 1am yesterday.

Reunited: Baharudin posing with his wife Rohaya Naman (left), mother Wan Som Wan Ayob (right), and children Laila Najwa, six, and Alif Haikal, three, after arriving at Sultan Ismail Airport yesterday.

Sources had alerted the media, saying that the plane would land between 3am and 4am, although the only scheduled flight from Djibouti was a chartered Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight at 6.25am.

Pressmen rushed over to Subang Jaya at 6am when sources confirmed that the crew had arrived at the hotel, only to be greeted by tight security from MISC personnel who prevented them from getting to the ballroom where the crew members were.

In Johor Baru, pensioner Abdul Jabar Abdul Hadi said that he was so happy to see his son Rizal Shah.

"I am so happy that I don't have words to describe how I feel," he said, adding that his wife and two children came with him from Johor Baru to welcome Rizal Shah.

Abdul Jabar said that among the first things on the agenda was breakfast, where Rizal Shah had roti telur and a mug of Nescafe.

Meanwhile, Defence Ministry public relations director Col Fadzlette Othman Merican said that the armed forces were involved in operations to free the crew members of the two hijacked tankers.

"The MISC tankers, MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima, and their crew members were released by the pirates in the Eyl waters off Somalia in the "Ops Fajar" operation," she said in a statement yesterday.