Medeshi Sept 24, 2008
Captain Siddiqui, 'master' of Somalia's changing waters
ON BOARD THE GOLINA, Indian Ocean (AFP) — Seventeen years of bloodshed and destruction, capped by the emergence of Islamic extremism, have earned Somalia's capital Mogadishu the dubious moniker of "Baghdad by the sea".
ON BOARD THE GOLINA, Indian Ocean (AFP) — Seventeen years of bloodshed and destruction, capped by the emergence of Islamic extremism, have earned Somalia's capital Mogadishu the dubious moniker of "Baghdad by the sea".
(Photo :Lively street of Mogadishu, in 1977)
But Shoaib Siddiqui still remembers the days when the Indian Ocean port was more flatteringly known as "Asmara by the sea", in reference to the Eritrean capital's sophisticated Italian architecture, cafes and cultural life.
In 1979, the young Pakistani sailor was washed up in the Somali capital at the end of his first ever journey out to sea.
"At that time, Mogadishu was not the same: lots of hotels and clubs. You could go walking in the streets at night no problem," says Siddiqui.
Now Mogadishu has become a by-word for violence and lawlessness, a field of ruins run by turbaned gunmen and extortionist gangs, a post-apocalyptic vision from a sci-fi movie where starving survivors are more likely to find a stray bullet than a pint of milk.
It takes a seasoned old tar like Captain Siddiqui to carry on steering ships to Somalia, where the only flourishing trades are arms and people smuggling and whose waters are the kingdom of pirates equipped with speedboats and rockets.
At 46, donning a stained "Multiball League 59" tee-shirt, leather sandals and bad-boy smoked sunglasses, he looks the part of the wily skipper who has weathered a few storms and will accept missions to the world's worst hellholes.
His latest assignment was to guide a World Food Programme food aid shipment, on board the Golina cargo, to some of the 3.2 million Somalis in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
Comfortably lounging back in a sagging brown chair with padded armrests, "Master Siddiqui", as his 20-strong Pakistani crew call him, oversees his empire of rust and soot, creaking along the ocean in wafting curry scents.
The cargo's safe docking in Mogadishu was aided by a Canadian navy frigate that shadowed the Golina from the Kenyan port of Mombasa to two and half miles from the shore.
Navy escorts have become a must for aid relief delivery headed to Somalia, as the pirates prowling the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden have been on a rampage in recent months.
"They are well equipped. If we start answering, they have mortars, they could sink the boat," admits the chain-smoking Siddiqui.
Getting off the Golina for recreation is no longer an option for Captain Siddiqui, who has seen the city slip into anarchy over 30 years of sailing in the region.
"It's gone 200 years back. I don't know why they are fighting each other. There is nothing," he says.
"The port is under curfew. You can see children, aged six or seven coming to sweep the cargos at night to make a little money. It's very bad. They should be studying at school."
Somalia has been without a central authority since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre but it has seen its worst violence since Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 to oust an Islamist that briefly controlled the country.
Somali pirates are currently holding no fewer than 12 foreign ships and the number of reported attacks since the start of the year stands at a staggering 56, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
The Karachi-born captain of the Golina considers himself lucky never to have been attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia but he knows the dangers of sailing these waters through the tales of his colleagues.
The Victoria, another cargo ship skippered by one of Siddiqui's friends, was boarded earlier this year by a posse of pirates and its crew held hostage.
"The gunmen came onto the ship. There were 15 of them. One guy put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The chamber was empty...," he says.
Siddiqui says another 20 pirates then boarded the captured vessel and mistreated the crew as the ransom negotiations developed. "They were made to lie down on the deck in the scorching sun."
The Golina will continue to enjoy the protection of the HMCS Ville de Quebec until the end of September but no other foreign navy has yet stepped up to replace the Canadians when their rotation ends.
Captain Siddiqui says he hopes India or Pakistan might accept to take over but remains adamant that delivering the aid is paramount.
"We'll go anyway. It's aid cargo and it's very important to go there."
But Shoaib Siddiqui still remembers the days when the Indian Ocean port was more flatteringly known as "Asmara by the sea", in reference to the Eritrean capital's sophisticated Italian architecture, cafes and cultural life.
In 1979, the young Pakistani sailor was washed up in the Somali capital at the end of his first ever journey out to sea.
"At that time, Mogadishu was not the same: lots of hotels and clubs. You could go walking in the streets at night no problem," says Siddiqui.
Now Mogadishu has become a by-word for violence and lawlessness, a field of ruins run by turbaned gunmen and extortionist gangs, a post-apocalyptic vision from a sci-fi movie where starving survivors are more likely to find a stray bullet than a pint of milk.
It takes a seasoned old tar like Captain Siddiqui to carry on steering ships to Somalia, where the only flourishing trades are arms and people smuggling and whose waters are the kingdom of pirates equipped with speedboats and rockets.
At 46, donning a stained "Multiball League 59" tee-shirt, leather sandals and bad-boy smoked sunglasses, he looks the part of the wily skipper who has weathered a few storms and will accept missions to the world's worst hellholes.
His latest assignment was to guide a World Food Programme food aid shipment, on board the Golina cargo, to some of the 3.2 million Somalis in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
Comfortably lounging back in a sagging brown chair with padded armrests, "Master Siddiqui", as his 20-strong Pakistani crew call him, oversees his empire of rust and soot, creaking along the ocean in wafting curry scents.
The cargo's safe docking in Mogadishu was aided by a Canadian navy frigate that shadowed the Golina from the Kenyan port of Mombasa to two and half miles from the shore.
Navy escorts have become a must for aid relief delivery headed to Somalia, as the pirates prowling the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden have been on a rampage in recent months.
"They are well equipped. If we start answering, they have mortars, they could sink the boat," admits the chain-smoking Siddiqui.
Getting off the Golina for recreation is no longer an option for Captain Siddiqui, who has seen the city slip into anarchy over 30 years of sailing in the region.
"It's gone 200 years back. I don't know why they are fighting each other. There is nothing," he says.
"The port is under curfew. You can see children, aged six or seven coming to sweep the cargos at night to make a little money. It's very bad. They should be studying at school."
Somalia has been without a central authority since the 1991 ouster of former president Mohamed Siad Barre but it has seen its worst violence since Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 to oust an Islamist that briefly controlled the country.
Somali pirates are currently holding no fewer than 12 foreign ships and the number of reported attacks since the start of the year stands at a staggering 56, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
The Karachi-born captain of the Golina considers himself lucky never to have been attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia but he knows the dangers of sailing these waters through the tales of his colleagues.
The Victoria, another cargo ship skippered by one of Siddiqui's friends, was boarded earlier this year by a posse of pirates and its crew held hostage.
"The gunmen came onto the ship. There were 15 of them. One guy put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The chamber was empty...," he says.
Siddiqui says another 20 pirates then boarded the captured vessel and mistreated the crew as the ransom negotiations developed. "They were made to lie down on the deck in the scorching sun."
The Golina will continue to enjoy the protection of the HMCS Ville de Quebec until the end of September but no other foreign navy has yet stepped up to replace the Canadians when their rotation ends.
Captain Siddiqui says he hopes India or Pakistan might accept to take over but remains adamant that delivering the aid is paramount.
"We'll go anyway. It's aid cargo and it's very important to go there."
