The crew survived on a diet of lentils and meat while being held hostage and there was just enough for all the crew, he said.

Alistair said they spent 24 hours of the day at gunpoint on the bridge of the ship and could not do anything without the permission of the captors.

"Even if we had to take a shower, only two of us at a time would be allowed to go for it and that also under their supervision. We had to take permission for everything," said Alistair, who worked in the engine room of the ship.

Another sailor, Burondkar, said the pirates seemed desperate people who could do anything to ensure they received the ransom.

"Their only purpose was to get money and they seemed like they would do anything for it," he said.

"There was no physical torture only mental torture of having to sit at gunpoint all the time," Burondkar said.

The captain had warned them prior to sailing through the Gulf of Aden that there was a risk of piracy, but despite keeping watches on the deck they failed to prevent the ship from being captured, he said.

Burondkar, a resident of Murud in Maharashtra, said the Somali pirates, numbering about 30, were carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades (RPG).

Describing the incident, he said, "on the day of the hijack, the pirate ship fired an RPG at the ship but it fell 10 to 15 metres short and while continuously firing at us they boarded the ship."

... contd.