The family of the 20-year-old Greek sailor kidnapped by pirates in Tongo is fearing for his life. Almost 24 hours have passed, and the kidnappers have not contacted the shipping company yet.
“My son needs to take three small pills every day,” his father told media on Tuesday evening. He has a small health issue since he was a child. “There would be no problem if he was the tanker, but he is gone…” the father added with broken voice.
The young Greek is one of the four hostages the pirates took with them. The other three are two Philippines and one Georgian. The rest of the crew is safe, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The Greek is a student of the Merchant Naval Academy and was on board on the tanker as trainee engineer. In two months he would conclude his training on the tanker and return home and to his studies. He was on board for one month and ten days, and this was his second training on a ship of the same company, the father said
Speaking to several media, the father said that the crew was sleeping when the pirates attacked and described what happened obviously having obtained the information by the shipping company or his son’s colleagues.
“The siren rang at 2 o’ clock in the morning, they quickly jumped out of their cabins, they grabbed them, there were some clashes with guns, one guard was hit on the leg. The kid is gone, is missing.”
They spoke via Skype just a few days before the attack, the father said.
He is convinced that the outcome will be good, but he is worrying because the kidnappers had not contacted anyone yet.
All what the family reportedly knows is that the Greek Shipping Ministry has activated lawyers and special negotiators to proceed with the case. All they can do now is to hope that their child’s adventure will end soon and the youngster son will soon be with the family.
“We will give whatever they will ask just to take our child back,” the desperate father said.
