A fresh threat from Somali pirates has deepened the fears of families whose 10 Pakistani relatives have been held aboard a hijacked tanker for more than five months, with loved ones saying they have lost all contact with the crew.
KARACHI: Relatives of the sailors said on Sunday that they had no information about the men’s whereabouts after a military operation rescued the crew of another hijacked vessel, raising concern over the safety of those aboard the MT Honour 25.
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The Palau-flagged tanker was captured off Somalia’s Puntland State region on April 21 while carrying 17 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis. The sailors have remained in captivity for more than five months.
The pirates have threatened to kill the hostages if security forces attempt an operation against the vessel, according to messages received by a Pakistani rights group involved in the case.
Mahwish Yasir, whose husband Yasir Khan is among the detained sailors, said none of the families had managed to speak directly with the crew since the latest developments.
“None of us have been in contact with them,” she told Arab News. “We have no idea of their location, nor is there any news from there. Nothing at all.”
Yasir said the communication blackout had intensified the families’ fears.
“Entire families are deeply distressed and in immense anxiety,” she said.
The concern follows Friday’s operation by maritime forces in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland State region to retake the SIBU 1, another tanker seized by pirates. Authorities said all 20 crew members on board were safe.
Puntland State officials told AFP that pirates holding three other tankers, including the Honour 25, had since moved south toward Hobyo in neighboring Galmudug state.
Ansar Burney Trust International, which has maintained contact with the crew and their captors, said it received a new photograph and message on Sept. 25 from the tanker’s Indonesian captain, Ashari Samadikun. The message warned that the men on board faced threats.
“The pirates have repeatedly threatened the crew of MT Honour 25 with firearms, stating that they will kill us if any attack or military operation is conducted against our vessel,” Samadikun said in the message shared with Arab News.
He called on the relevant authorities to make the crew’s safety their priority and avoid an operation that could trigger retaliation against the sailors.
Qurratulain Muhammad Anis, a legal adviser with Ansar Burney Trust International, said the threats began several days before the operation to recover the SIBU 1.
She said the Trust had received calls from around Sept. 18 or 19 in which the captors warned that they could remove crew members from the vessel and take them inland, where there would be no Internet access or tracking.
“They kept saying that if any attack was made against them, they would kill everyone,” Anis told Arab News.
According to Anis, the pirates are seeking $1.9 million in exchange for the hostages’ release, a demand the Trust has communicated to Pakistani authorities.
She said the organization’s most recent formal communication with the government took place on Sept. 16, when officials acknowledged receiving information provided by the Trust.
Anis said the Trust’s latest information indicated that all the crew members were alive and that no serious illness had been reported. However, supplies of food and medicine remained insufficient, while the sailors were under severe psychological pressure from their captors.
Some crew members, she added, had been compelled at gunpoint to make calls repeating the pirates’ threats.
Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan told Arab News on Sunday that, to his knowledge, the ministry had not received the Sept. 25 message containing the latest threats.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office has previously said the Ministry of Human Rights was appointed the focal point for the case and was coordinating with the foreign and maritime affairs ministries.
Islamabad has also contacted Somali authorities and requested help from the International Maritime Organization in securing the sailors’ release.
Arab News asked the Ministry of Human Rights whether it had received the captain’s latest message, what measures were being taken to free the crew, how it was coordinating with other authorities and whether officials were communicating with the families. The ministry had not responded by the time of filing.
Aisha Ameen, the wife of captive fitter Ameen bin Shams, said families had received no meaningful update on efforts to bring the sailors home.
“No one has contacted us,” she told Arab News. “The agencies are only sending messages asking us to just pray for their safe return. We are not getting any news from anywhere.”
