Pakistanis captured by Somali pirates victims of ‘ownership crisis’

AI Summary

Pakistani and other crew members of the oil tanker MT Honour 25 hijacked by Somali pirates in April face dire conditions including illness and starvation. Despite distress messages, there has been no ransom payment or rescue progress, raising urgent humanitarian concerns.

“I am the captain of the MT Honour 25, requesting immediate assistance for our vessel. Our condition is extremely critical. Several members of my crew have fallen seriously ill, suffering from diabetes and infections. They are no longer able to hold on,” said Indonesian Captain Ashari Samadikun through a recorded video message dated June 16, 2026. “We are surviving solely on plain white rice and contaminated water. The company has not sent any form of assistance to us. The hijackers refuse to negotiate with any third parties; they only want to negotiate directly with the company listed on our ship’s documents.” The Honour 25 — a Palau-flagged oil tanker carrying 17 to 19 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis — was hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia on April 21, 2026. Three months have gone by and there has been no progress either in negotiations or the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for the recovery of the hostages. Since its hijack, the crew has made several emotional videos and audio appeals, while reporting that they have run out of clean water, food and medicine. “We are pleading with the government to intervene and compel our company to take responsibility for its crew. We are facing immense difficulties just to stay alive, and to this day, we have seen no progress. The company has provided absolutely zero assistance in terms of food or medicine. We humbly ask for the prayers of all the Indonesian people,” the captain’s message said. As is widely known by now, the ship — besides seven Indonesians — also has 10 Pakistani crew members, as well as an Indian and a Sri Lankan. “We don’t even have clean water to drink; we only have yellowish water to drink from our ship’s tank. We are given plain boiled rice to eat once every 24 hours,” said Pakistani crew member, Oiler Yasir Khan, through a recorded video message dated June 1, 2026. Khan appeals to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, President Asif Zardari, and “any other relevant authorities” to “please help us or we won’t be able to survive here”. “We only have our government to look up to. Therefore, we ask you to please do something for us so we can go back home and reunite with our families,” he said in the message. These video messages are some of the last communications from the hostages. Yasir Khan, crew member of an oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in April, speaks in a video recorded on June 1. — screengrab from video via Shazia Hasan Question of ownership The agency responsible for hiring them, as known to the Pakistani crew, is called Purser Shipping Consultancy (SMC Pvt Limited / Helmsman Shipping Company, North Nazimabad, Karachi). From there, they know an ‘Osman’, but it was revealed later that he may only be a middleman who hired them. In another video message — this time in English — Captain Ashari Samadikun has a book in his hands, showing the name of the ship’s official owners: Wharf Chartering Co of Dubai, who are not interested in talking to the pirates. “This book mentions the ship owner company. There is no mention of anyone named Osman. He must be a middleman only,” he pointed out. Earlier, under the supervision of the Somali pirates, there were several videos and phone calls to the families of the hostages to pressure them to pay the ransom. But after mid-June, the messages stopped. “They used to give us around five or so minutes to speak, but that has all stopped now. The pirates have blocked our WhatsApp,” Ayesha Kashif, wife of Second Officer Syed Kashif Umer Naqvi, told Dawn. “It seems that no one cares, because nothing has changed as far as the government’s stance goes in the recovery of our people. We are only told to be patient. And not having had any communication with our loved ones, think of our state of mind.” “Izhar, my eldest son, failed to appear for his final A-Level exams in May-June. My three younger children also keep enquiring about their father. I’m using our savings to run the house,” she added. Ali Akbar, the older brother of one of the ship’s oilers, Imran Ali, said that both his mother and his sister-in-law — Imran’s wife — have fallen ill with worry. “We are trying to stay strong, but everyone cannot be strong. Our mother is also old,” he said. Oiler Imran Ali, crew member of an oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in April. — via Shazia Hasan Mahwish Yasir, the wife of Yasir Khan, said that her husband only tells her about their problems before the phone is taken from him. “The last time that I spoke to him was around Eidul Azha. He told me then that some other pirates also tried taking control of their ship a few days ago, but were told to go away by the pirates already on the ship. It is a crazy situation,” she said. Obaidullah, the older brother of another oiler named Rafiullah Khan, also said that the pirates are no longer interested in talk