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Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar directed “stakeholders” on Thursday to maintain close and regular coordination and intensify diplomatic engagement with national and international partners to facilitate the release of 10 Pakistani sailors who have been held hostage by Somali pirates since April.
The sailors were among the crew of the MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged oil tanker that was hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia, on April 21. Besides the 10 Pakistani crew members, the hostages also include seven Indonesians, including the captain, as well as an Indian and a Sri Lankan.
During more than three months of their captivity, there has been no progress either in negotiations or the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for their recovery.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office (FO) has been saying that efforts continue for their release and return.
In a statement posted on X today, it said Dar chaired a high-level meeting to review Pakistan’s “intensified efforts” for the safe release of the sailors.
“The DPM/FM directed all relevant stakeholders to maintain close and regular coordination and intensify diplomatic engagement with national and international partners, including the Somali authorities and relevant international organisations, to facilitate the safe release of our citizens,” the FO stated.
The FO said the government remained “fully seized” of the situation and that Dar expressed hope that sustained and coordinated engagement would lead to a positive outcome and the seamen’s safe return.
It added that DPM Dar also expressed solidarity with the families of the sailors.
On August 7, more than 100 days after being taken hostage by Somali pirates, the crew members on board MT Honour 25 released another distress message in which they had appealed directly to the Pakistani government for their release.
In the two video messages, the Pakistani hostages and foreigners could be seen in a state of extreme distress, with most looking sick and weak. They requested that the Pakistani government talk to the Somali pirates and take steps to release them.
Since the hijacking, the crew has made several emotional videos and audio appeals, while reporting that they have run out of clean water, food and medicine.
The hostages are victims of an “ownership crisis”, as it is not clearly established who owns the ship and the man previously thought to be the owner was later revealed to be more likely a middleman who hired them.
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 had stopped, until the latest appeal.
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