Pakistanis captured by Somali pirates victims of ‘ownership crisis’

“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 talking to them.

“They are in touch with the family of only one Pakistani crew member, the ship’s fitter Ameen Bin Shams,” he said.

When asked if it was even more worrisome that something might have happened to their relatives, the brother said that anything was possible given the way things were.

However, he added that he had a cousin who was also taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2012 and who told him that cutting off contact was a Somali tactic to increase panic.

Aisha Ameen, who is now the only person the pirates contact, said that she had also not received any communication for many days.

“I keep my cell phone close to me all the time. When they call, they only say to us what they want conveyed, they ignore our queries,” she said.

“From what we understood initially … the owner of the ship was Osman. But a WhatsApp message from the pirates to humanitarian Ansar Burney, who also tried to help in resolving the matter, says that ‘Osman’ is a third party in Somalia,” she shared, adding that he was “spreading lies” that the ransom demand was for $10m rather than $3m.

Ansar Burney — a former human rights minister — is the chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust, a non-profit human rights organisation working in all areas of human and civil rights worldwide. He has previously participated in efforts to free Pakistanis captured by Somali pirates.

“And here we don’t even have any answers from our own government… For instance, the government will not speak to the pirates directly. The ship owner should do that. But it is not established who owns the ship. It is also said that the oil in the ship has a different owner in Yemen,” Ameen told Dawn.

“We are only told to remain calm and be patient. But for how long? It has been over three months now.”

“By now, there is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, the Pakistan Embassy in Djibouti, this ‘Osman’ fellow claiming to be the ship’s owner, and Ansar Burney pushing them to take action. But we still have no answers, no results,” she added.Crew members of an oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in April. — via Shazia Hasan

Ameen shared that she has a seven-month-old son whom his father has not seen since he was born, and at her husband’s request, was holding off on the boy’s aqiqah — the sacrificing of an animal upon a child’s birth — until his return.

“My three-year-old daughter tells me that she is mad at her father because he no longer talks to her on the phone,” she said. What do I tell her? We are told to stay calm and trust the government. How do I stay calm? Whom do I trust?”

Foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said that the government’s efforts to bring the men home continue, adding, “We understand the families’ pain.”

The vice chairperson of the Ansar Burney Trust, Shaheen Burney, told Dawn that there had been silence within the government for a long time. However, after the trust kept pushing for action, the matter was referred to the Ministry of Human Rights on the prime minister’s directive.

“We went to Islamabad for a detailed meeting regarding the matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They told us that the Pakistan Embassy in Djibouti is also involved,” said Burney.

After this, the ministry also held a meeting with the families in Karachi. However, she said, the “same kind of things” were repeated in the meeting, with the ministry reiterating their limitations and that they could “only take the diplomatic way”.

After this, she said, PM Shehbaz directed the Ministry of Human Rights to take up the matter. The trust aired its concerns again in a meeting in Islamabad on July 3.

Another meeting took place on Friday (July 24), but Ameen has not yet seen the minutes of this one.

The Ansar Burney Trust has spoken, in the meantime, to both the ship’s captain — who was worried about the health of his crew — and the pirates, who Burney said do not recognise ‘Osman’ as the ship owner despite his claims, even though he is willing to negotiate.

“Almost 100 days have passed since the hijacking and there have been no concrete steps taken by the government in this matter,” she regretted.

source : dawn