'Alakrana' receives warm welcome in the Seychelles

Basque fishing vessel, the Alakrana, which was set free on Tuesday after 47 days held hostage by Somali pirates, has arrived with its 36 crew members, 8 of them Basque, at the island of the Seychelles, dropping anchor in the port of its capital Victoria.

At around 6.30am, the crew began descending from the boat; the first of them, owner Ricardo Blach, described his arrival as being like "a dream". Still emotional, Blach admitted that throughout the hijacking ordeal he had "feared for his life" due to the ill-treatment the crew received at the hands of their captors.

To celebrate the outcome of the 47-day-long drama, the wives of the Galician fishermen, around ten women in total, decided to go up on deck and, between tears and cries of emotion, embraced their loved ones.

Families present included those of the eight Galician members of the crew as well as relatives of the many other nationalities of fishermen who work aboard the Alakrana.

Not present, however, were the families of the eight Basque fishermen who declined to travel on a Spanish Airforce plane, chartered by the Ministry for Defence for this occasion.

Some of the boat's fishing crew were taken to hospital nearby in Port Victoria in order to undergo routine medical checks.

Also there alongside the families were a number of diplomats who went aboard to welcome the fishermen.

After a sufficient respite period, the Spanish Airforce plane will transport the 16 Spanish seamen back home to their families, scheduled to land in Madrid on Saturday.

Homeward bound

The Basque fishing vessel arrived at Port Victoria after three days navigating from the zone where they were hijacked off the Somali coast on 2nd October. After the crew have had time to rest, they and their families will be flown back to Spain where they are expected to land at Madrid at 8am on Saturday.