The Tayside captain of a Nigerian supply vessel was told he would be burnt alive after pirates stormed his ship and took him hostage.
Joe Westland, 63, was skippering the Saint Patrick when it was attacked just off the Nigerian coast in May.
The Angus man said: “I was awoken by banging, crashing and shouting. I was very scared.
“I locked my door and hid in the en-suite toilet. Moments later I heard a loud crashing on my cabin door and then I saw sledgehammers coming through the toilet door.
“I opened the door and was confronted by six pirates with masks, machine guns and shotguns I thought I was never going to get out of there alive.”
The pirates ransacked the vessel, held Mr Westland hostage and demanded a ransom of £750,000.
After four days of negotiations, during which time Joe’s health deteriorated and he cunningly faked a heart attack, the pirates settled on a £50,000 ransom and he was set free.
“I was taken by gunmen in a boat out into the sea. I thought I was to be killed at the handover,” he said.
Mr Westland, who is still recovering, plans to write a book about his experience.
