Somali Pirates Still Hold 11 Pakistanis Captive
Honour 25's crew has now been held captive for more than seven days, family members of those on board are becoming increasingly worried.
Abdul Raheem Qaisar
The people of Pakistan have been amazed to see the hijackers take crew members off a tanker for their ransom in Somalia. After seeing the new footage from Somali pirates who have freed the crew members, photos show that their living conditions were horrible (captured in cages)! Recently, several sailors who had been abducted have recorded emotional audio messages to call out to the government for help! And many of these popular entertainers have also used many social media platforms to raise awareness and advocate for their families. Talha Anjum made a very impactful post through social media about what happened and that action must be taken soon or this will have a disastrous end. According to the Dawn, many celebrities including Mahira Khan, Sabeena Farooq and many others are using their voice and public appearances to show support and advocate for bringing home all abducted crew members from Somali pirates. This has provoked Governor of Sindh Nehal Hashmi to meet with the families of those kidnapped and provide assurances to them that he is working with the Sindh government and other countries to ensure the crew members are released.
On April 21st, six heavily armed pirates captured Honour 25, an oil tanker, approximately 30 nautical miles (about 55 kilometers) off the coast of Somalia. The tanker was first moved closer to shore from about 30 nautical miles to approximately one mile from the coast, where five additional pirates joined the initial group that had taken control of the vessel. Of the seventeen crew members, eleven are from Pakistan, many of whom are from Karachi; the other six are from Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Family members have reported limited contact and that the conditions are becoming dire for the non-pirate crew as they continue to be at anchor near the coast while negotiations remain limited.
In the future, government officials are hopeful that they can negotiate peace via diplomacy or possibly make an official ransom payment. Although no specific plans have been made publicly at this time, if successful, it would end the siege quickly, either during the next few days or maybe weeks. However, should it become protracted, that could prompt much larger global participation and increase attention to maritime security in the Gulf of Aden. This event is a timely wake-up call to Pakistani mariners that dangerous conditions exist for them while working aboard foreign-flagged vessels. Families remain hopeful that their mariners will soon return home safely.
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