Crew of a Kenya Ports Authority tug-boat gallantly fought off sea pirates who made two attempts to snatch the Sh400 million vessel as they brought it to the port of Mombasa.
A port official told the Nation that the six-man crew brought the tug-boat Kiboko II to the harbour from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, yesterday.
They went through a seven-week agonising voyage that included fighting off pirates.
Captain John Nguyo of KPA, who was on board the vessel, confirmed the attacks by pirates saying, their first encounter took place in the Mediterranean Sea.
The captain, who looked tired, said the pirates engaged KibokoII in a dramatic sea chase that lasted about 30 minutes.
"We used the vessel's high powered fire fighting cannons to keep the invaders at bay, as they tried to get close too the boat," he said.
Capt Nguyo said they could not determine where the invaders were from, but said they looked determined to take the modern and expensive machine. They could also have had prior knowledge of the voyage of the tug-boat.
The second attempt, which occurred near Cape Aden on the Arabian Coast, involved two vessels.
The vessels tried to sandwich the tug boat and distract those on board for easy capture, but the vessel's Capt Leo Sterrenburg successfully managed to outmanoeuvre the invaders.
"We had to use all tricks to save the tug-boat and our lives from the pirates," he said.
The voyage was not made any easier by the rough sea that forced them to seek refuge several times.
They stopped at Salala in Oman for a week as they waited for the sea to calm down. This was after they completed the journey in the Red Sea and tried to join the Indian Ocean. They had to take another one week off in the Seychelles as the sea got rougher.
"We are lucky to be alive at this point. We encountered all manner of hardships in our efforts to bring the tug-boat home," he said on arrival.
The tug-boat is one of the strongest vessels currently in the market and the second one KPA is receiving this year after the arrival of Simba III, three months ago.
Those aboard the tug-boat were Capt Sterrenburg, Mr Robert Reinveld (Chief mate), Mr Niet Van Der Peter (Cook), Mr Nieuwenhuijzen Van Jacobus Gerard (Engineer), Capt Nguyo and Mr Salim Rashid Kassim (Second engineer).
At the same time 11 crew members of a ship that had been detained on Somalia Coast have been released.
They included three Koreans and eight Indonesians.
Their release is reported to have been secured by the owner of the ship, a Mr Lee.
The Indonesian Ambassador to Kenya, Mr Djimun Kasri, confirmed the release of the 11.
"We only helped in transporting them back home and not their release," he said yesterday morning.
Beira 3 was captured by the ship's Somali agent in March, last year, after disagreements over fishing royalties and security provided to her previously.
The agent is reported to have demanded $985,000 (Sh78 million) ransom to release the crew members.
It was not clear if the ransom was paid by the beleaguered owner of Mozko Shipping Company, which owns six ships that are all held in various countries.
Two of the ships are arrested in Mombasa facing court charges, one is arrested in Mozambique, one in Durban South Africa and one sank in Mozambique Coast waters.
Ten Kenyans who were working aboard the ship were released in February this year leaving the Indonesians and the Koreans.
Abdulsamad Ali, Nairobi