Hijacking: Morning Glory’s last crew member arrives home

Ghufran Marghoob was held by Libyan authorities to help with offloading.


Our Correspondent April 23, 2014
Chief Officer of Morning Glory Ghufran Marghoob of kisses his son after returning to Karachi on Wednesday. PHOTO: PPI

KARACHI: A beaming Ghufran Marghoob was welcomed and embraced by his family at Jinnah International Airport on Wednesday morning. The last remaining crew member of Morning Glory has finally come home.

Five Pakistani crew members returned home on April 5 but Marghoob, who was chief officer of the Morning Glory vessel, was asked by the Libyan government to stay behind and help with the offloading.

“The situation in Libya was becoming worse and I feared that I would be harmed,” said Marghoob, as he spoke to the media outside the airport. “But thank God I am safe and back with my family.”



The Morning Glory oil tanker with its 21-member crew was hijacked by Libyan rebels in March. The vessel was originally bound for Tunisia but was asked by its Dubai-owned company to move towards Libya. Here, the rebels took over the ship, smuggled their country’s oil and made the crew move the ship towards Cyprus.

On the request of the Libyan government, the US Navy Seals carried out an operation on the ship, took the three armed hijackers into their custody, and took the vessel back to Libya. Upon arrival in Libya, the crew was initially kept in a detention centre but was released after a few days. Thirty-two-year-old Ghufran, who was welcomed by his family with rose garlands at the airport, said that he had gotten a new life. “The port where we were offloading the oil from the vessel was mostly occupied by rebels. I have certainly got a new life.”

He thanked the government, the foreign office, the president and the prime minister along with the Pakistani officials in Libya for taking steps and making his homecoming possible.

Social activist Ansar Burney, who had also come to the airport to receive him, said that Pakistanis have once again proved that they are life-savers. “I am proud of our nation that we save lives and rescue people and do not take their lives,” said Burney. “We don’t abandon our people. And because of the efforts of our government, we were also able to save the lives of the remaining crew members who belonged to the other five countries.”

The family is now reluctant to send Marghoob out to sea again. “This incident was tragic and nerve-racking for us,” said his brother, Hassan. “I won’t let him become a sailor again.”


Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2014.

COMMENTS (1)

shah | 9 years ago | Reply

But the govt or anyone else in Pakistan didn't do anything. These sailors were rescued by US commandos.

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