- 10 Pakistanis among crew members aboard vessel.
- Pirates involved in hijacking MT Honour 25 arrested.
- Puntland state TV says pirates to be brought to court.
MOGADISHU: Somali pirates killed five crew members, including three Pakistanis, while Puntland authorities were carrying out an operation to free the hijacked MT Honour 25, the information ministry of Somalia’s semi-autonomous region said on Tuesday.
The Palau-flagged petroleum products tanker was seized by pirates on April 21, around 30 nautical miles off Puntland’s coast, with 17 crew members aboard, including 10 Pakistani nationals.
Puntland’s information ministry said the rescue mission had successfully freed the tanker and captured 16 pirates.
“Before the operation begun, the pirates on board the ship killed five of the crew. Among those killed were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also said four crew members were injured, identifying them as three Pakistanis and one Indian.
Ansar Burney, director of the Ansar Burney Trust, separately confirmed that three Pakistani nationals, an Indian citizen and a Myanmar national were killed, while four other Pakistani crew members were injured.
Burney expressed deep concern over the condition of the abducted crew, saying his organisation had repeatedly alerted the relevant authorities to the threats facing their lives and urged immediate action.
He called for the injured crew members to be returned safely and for the bodies of those killed to be handed over to their families.
Among the Pakistani victims was second officer Kashif Umar, a resident of Karachi’s Buffer Zone who had been associated with the merchant navy for 25 years.
People began visiting Umar’s home to offer condolences after news of his death emerged. According to the Ansar Burney Trust, Umar had said during his last conversation that food, drinking water and other essential supplies aboard the vessel were running out.
Puntland officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The seizure had prompted concern in Pakistan over the safety of the crew. Last month, Pakistan sought intervention from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to secure the release and safe return of the 10 Pakistani seafarers aboard the tanker.
The rescue comes a week after a similar Puntland counter-piracy operation in which the regional maritime police force said it had freed the US-sanctioned tanker Sibu 1, which had been seized by Somali pirates in August.
The operation comes amid a resurgence in piracy off Somalia’s coast in recent years, reviving concerns over maritime security in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean.
A previous wave of Somali piracy, which peaked between 2008 and 2014, disrupted one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, cost the global economy billions of dollars and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments.
Experts have linked the recent resurgence partly to changing regional conditions, including the effects of the Iran war and higher oil prices that can make petroleum tankers more attractive targets.
