MOMBASA, KENYA — The pirates pretended to be fishermen who'd run out of fuel. But when their fiberglass speedboat reached the South Korean tuna vessel, the "fishermen" pulled machine guns from under their shirts.
Young thugs shot the chief officer in the shoulder and assembled the rest of the crew on deck. Kenyan seafarer Nelson Warambo braced himself to be killed or thrown into the water off Somalia.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 44 words Type of Material: Correction
The Philippines' size: An article in Sunday's Section A about Kenyan seafarers mistakenly referred to the Southeast Asian island nation of the Philippines as "tiny." The Philippines has a land area of more than 115,000 square miles and a population of about 90 million.
"I thought about my family. My life," said Warambo, 36. "It didn't make any sense that I would die like this, in a foreign country."
Often lost amid the drama surrounding Somalia's worsening piracy are the stories of the Kenyan seafarers who have borne the brunt of the hijackings over the last five years.
As many as one-fifth of Kenya's working seafarers have been held hostage during that time, according to Kenyan maritime officials. Some have been hijacked three times. Yet they continue to return to their jobs, earning an average of just $4 a day for the backbreaking work.
Many say they were drawn by the lure of the sea and a chance to see the world. For others, it's a family tradition dating back 1,000 years, when Arab traders opened outposts here.
"I love the water," Warambo said. "Everyone has his calling, and I guess this is mine."
Now, with the risks growing, many say that they'd like to change professions but that they have few options.
"They don't pay me enough to risk my life, but I'm a sole breadwinner with a hungry family," said Osman, 31, a deckhand who was held hostage for three months during a trip to Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. (His last name was withheld to protect him from retaliation by boat owners who have threatened to fire workers who speak to journalists.)
About 30 ships have been hijacked off Somalia this year, making those waters the most dangerous in the world. The Sept. 26 hijacking of a Ukrainian vessel laden with tanks and other military equipment sparked an international outcry. But even with more than half a dozen foreign warships now roaming the area, including several from the United States, pirates continue to terrorize the coast.
For Kenya's struggling seafarers, hijackings are just the latest danger in a profession that has been marked by two decades of neglect and exploitation.
More than 80% of the estimated 5,000 seafarers in Kenya are unemployed. The few that find jobs earn only a quarter of what their foreign counterparts make.
