By Meera Vijayan

JOHOR BARU: The presence of Royal Malaysian Navy ships near vessels hijacked by Somali pirates had sparked off more tension among the pirates and hostages as they feared the situation could become more volatile, said a freed hostage.

Assistant duty engineer Rizal Shah Abdul Jabar, 30, told reporters at his home in Taman Kemas yesterday, that the incident was one of the most frightening moments of his life.

"When our navy ships approached, tempers frayed among the pirates. There was a lot of shouting. They panicked as they were afraid of being attacked," he said, adding that the pirates had hoped to deal only with the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) over the ransom issue.

Later, the pirates divided the hostages into two groups, he said. Rizal Shah was among 80 crew members of MISC-owned MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima who arrived home safely on Oct 4 after the vessels were hijacked by Somali pirates.

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 10 days later.

Somali pirates released the ships after a ransom was paid. Media reports claimed the MISC had paid US$2mil (RM6.9mil) for the release of each vessel.

Rizal Shah said the nightmare of the MT Bunga Melati Lima crew began when he heard the blaring siren aboard the ship, followed quickly by the captain's announcement that the ship had been taken over by pirates.

"After the announcement, the chief engineer and duty engineer came down to the engine room where I was to turn off the ship's engine," he said.

Rizal Shah only realised the seriousness of the situation when he went up to deck and saw some 15 pirates, armed with AK47s, pistols, rounds of ammunition, bombs and grenade launchers.

The pirates were well-organised and also took the crew members' laptops, mobile phones, shoes and clothes including Rizal Shah's favourite Manchester United jersey.

He said the crew prepared their own meals, which were rationed to fried rice every day but time moved slowly for the bored and restless crewmen as all their duties were suspended.

"At one point, the pirates threatened to take four of us (the hostages) to land and kill us if MISC did not give them the ransom."

He said their ordeal ended when they saw the RMN personnel aboard their ship advising them to stay put while the vessel was searched.