Ayesha Ameen, a 26-year-old mother from Karachi, has been living a nightmare for the past two weeks. Her husband, Ameen bin Shams, 29, is among 10 Pakistani sailors held hostage on board the MT Honour 25, an oil tanker seized by Somali pirates on April 21. Their three-year-old daughter Zimal asks daily when her father will return, while four-month-old Rahim has never met his father.
Ameen had secured his first merchant navy contract in December after years at a Karachi shipyard. According to Ayesha, the months before the hijacking were the happiest of his life. He would video-call frequently, showing her sunrises, dolphins, and sharing details of shipboard life. 'He often said: This is a good life, I am quite enjoying this,' she told Al Jazeera.
On April 23, two days after the capture, Ameen called his wife in panic, saying the ship had been hijacked. He expressed his love for his family and asked her to kiss the children for him. Another brief call came the following week, urging her to contact civil society and the government. Since then, communication has ceased. Ayesha expressed frustration with the government's perceived inaction: 'They are busy saving the world from a war, but they cannot reach out to their own citizens in this hour of need.'
Another hostage, Mehmood Ahmed Ansari, 55, a veteran seafarer with 30 years of experience, sent a voice note to his son Muzammil: 'We are hijacked, reach out to the company, to the government.' Muzammil described the family's limbo: 'When we wake up, we wonder what news we will get. When we sleep, we wonder what news will come the next day.'
The MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged product tanker carrying about 18,000 barrels of oil, was seized on April 21 approximately 30 nautical miles off Somalia's Puntland region. The 17-member crew includes 10 Pakistanis, four Indonesians, and one each from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and India. At least 11 pirates are on board. EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta has deployed two warships to the area.
Conditions on the vessel are deteriorating, according to families and the Ansar Burney Trust, a Karachi-based human rights organization. Food and water supplies are running low, fuel is nearly exhausted, and some crew members lack essential medication. A video released on April 28 shows about a dozen people confined to a cramped cabin with no proper sleeping arrangements.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi stated on April 30 that Islamabad is in contact with Somali authorities and that there is reason to believe the crew is safe. He noted a 'silver lining'—the ship's owner is from Puntland. However, families deem the response insufficient, calling for a high-level committee and regular updates.
The MT Honour 25 hijacking is part of a resurgence in Somali piracy. At least three vessels have been seized since April 20, the most concentrated burst in years. Anti-piracy patrols were diverted to the Red Sea in 2023 to counter Houthi attacks, and the US-Iran war has further stretched naval resources. With Brent crude above $110 per barrel, tankers like the Honour 25 have become lucrative targets.
Source: www.aljazeera.com