Safe return of seamen held by Somali pirates demanded

KARACHI: Ambreen Fatima protested in Karachi with her children on Wednesday for the release of her husband, one of 10 Pakistani crew aboard an oil tanker seized by Somali pirates 23 days ago, and who is now drinking uncleaned tank water to survive, she said.

The MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged product tanker, was seized on April 21 approximately 30 nautical miles off Somalia’s Puntland region with 17 crew members aboard, 10 of them Pakistani.

Fatima said her daughter had been hospitalised for two days due to the stress and her 16-year-old son, sitting his annual exams, could barely concentrate.

“He says his brain isn’t functioning. He’s worried about his dad and that’s all that’s on his mind,” said Fatima. Her husband, Syed Hussain Yousuf, serves as second engineer on the vessel. The last time their captors allowed a video call six days ago, “he did not look well”, she said.

Foreign ministry says pirates have not contacted country

Under the hot sun, five families of the hostages gathered on the Native Jetty Bridge, near Karachi main port, holding signs demanding the government bring their relatives home, while children, some barely able to hold their placards upright, stood beside them.

Hijackings of vessels by Somali pirate gangs were once commonplace around the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, a major shipping lane used to transport critical energy and goods to global markets. They eased through much of 2025 but incidents are rising again.

The waterway is particularly important given the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war.

Families said their children had suffered panic and anxiety attacks since their fathers went missing. Crew members, when briefly allowed by pirates to call home, reported the ship had run out of clean water, with sailors drinking dirty tank water and surviving on boiled rice once a day.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the pirates had not contacted Islamabad and had shown no desire to negotiate with the government. “The ship owner is negotiating with the pirates and is in touch with the Somali government, which is keeping Pakistan informed of updates,” he said.

A team from Pakistan’s embassy in Djibouti visited Somalia from May 7 to 10 and was told the captives were safe, but that Somali authorities could not storm the vessel as it carried flammable cargo, he said.

“We are doing our best. We understand that Pakistan’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs is coordinating with the families.” At least three vessels were hijacked off Puntland in April 2026, prompting a “substantial” threat-level warning from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026