Calcutta, Jan. 9: The first ship to leave Port Blair after the tsunami disaster arrived at Calcutta port at 3.15 pm today with 1,034 passengers.

MV Nicobar, a Shipping Corporation of India vessel, ferried 98 passengers from the devastated Andaman and Nicobar Islands for free, captain Manoj Kumar said.

Of these, 54 are from Bengal and most of the rest from Andhra Pradesh. The vessel was also carrying 16 containers in its cargo hold, Calcutta Port Trust officials said.

On board were daily labourers, private-firm employees, small-time businessmen, a number of army personnel and some foreign tourists.

As they descended the narrow flight of stairs after the ship anchored at Kidderpore dock, many of them broke down, unable to believe they had finally reached safe ground unscathed.

?I had watched horrified and helpless as the ravenous sea rose and swallowed my family,? said T. Pauliah, tears streaming down his face.

The labourer from Andhra Pradesh lost his wife, two sons and a daughter to the killer waves. ?I don?t know what I shall say when my aged parents enquire about their grandchildren,? he wailed.

Pauliah and his wife had worked for years as loaders at a jetty on Hut Bay, one of the worst-hit islands. But today, he was penniless after the disaster left him destitute.

He had no idea how he would get back home until a hawker volunteered to take him to Howrah station and put him on a train.

Like Pauliah, a fisherman?s family of 18 had come on the ship, which had sailed from Calcutta on December 28 with relief material and army personnel.

The family decided to stay the night at the dock. ?We have lost everything and will not go back there,? said Appa Rao, one of the group rescued by the navy and brought to Port Blair.

?We were promised Rs 2,000 per head as compensation. But we got nothing,? said S. Sitya, another fisherman.

They will leave for home in Andhra tomorrow. For today, the port trust staff at the dock provided them food. ?We will buy tickets for them tomorrow,? said Md Hyder Osman, a clearing agent at the dock.

MV Nicobar sails again on Tuesday with construction and relief material.