Injured sailor recalls how pirates tied hostages to the deck as Somali forces closed in on the Honour 25
A Puntland Maritime Police Force soldier stands aboard the MT Honour 25 oil tanker following its rescue off Somalia. PHOTO: X/@PMPFOFFICIAL
KARACHI:
After five and a half months in the hands of Somali pirates, the return home brought relief to the surviving crew of the Honour 25 — but could not erase memories of the night when they were forced onto the deck and caught in a deadly exchange of fire.
The Palau-flagged MT Honour 25, carrying 18,500 barrels of oil and a 17-member crew, including 10 Pakistanis, was seized on April 21, around 30 nautical miles off Puntland while sailing from Oman to Somalia. Puntland’s Maritime Police Force said it rescued the tanker in an operation off Dharin-baar, but the pirates opened fire on the hostages, killing five people, including three Pakistanis, and injuring four others.
For Pakistani sailor Ameen bin Shams, the horrific night remains etched in his memory: pirates herding the hostages onto the deck in freezing temperatures, Somali naval forces closing in and, eventually, bullets tearing through the vessel.
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“Every moment we spent in the captivity of Somali pirates felt like years. We lived in constant fear of death, never knowing when the pirates might kill us,” said the injured sailor.
Shams said the nightmare they had feared eventually unfolded when Somali security forces launched an operation against another vessel anchored some distance from the Honour 25 and managed to free it.
Following the development, the pirates aboard their vessel ordered the crew to start the ship’s engines and move forward. It was nighttime, and the Somali naval vessel was approximately 10 nautical miles away.
“That night was nothing short of a nightmare. The pirates gathered all of us on the ship’s deck in freezing temperatures. We remained there throughout the night without proper clothing or footwear,” Shams said.
At daybreak, the pirates allowed the crew to go below deck. However, just as they were preparing to rest, they were ordered back onto the deck. All crew members, except Imran and Hussain Yousuf, were tied to the deck railing.
Imran later informed the Ansar Burney Trust by phone that he and Hussain Yousuf were inside the ship’s main engine room, while the remaining crew members had been taken back to the deck by the pirates.
By then, the pursuing Somali naval vessel had closed the distance to just one nautical mile. Security personnel gave the pirates 30 minutes to surrender the vessel and release the hostages, but they refused to comply.
Also Read: Bodies of Pakistanis killed in Somalia being repatriated, arrive in Addis Ababa: PMO
According to Imran, gunfire suddenly erupted, with bullets penetrating the interior of the vessel. The intense exchange of fire continued for more than two hours.
There were 41 pirates aboard the Honour 25. After spending five and a half months in captivity, the crew members had come to know most of the pirates by name, while the pirates also knew their names.
Imran said a pirate identified as Arab panicked during the Somali forces’ operation and opened fire in the section of the vessel where the hostages had been tied up.
The security forces soon gained control of the ship. Five pirates were killed in the operation, while 13 others were injured and arrested.
All four injured Pakistani sailors who arrived in Karachi were shifted to Aga Khan Hospital, where they are currently receiving treatment.
Ameen’s wife, Ayesha, said her husband had sustained four bullet wounds and had been admitted to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Muzammil, son of deceased crew member Mahmood Ansari, told the media at the airport that the families had repeatedly appealed for the safe recovery of the hostages, but the government had failed to listen.
“What is the point of offering compensation now?” he questioned.
The bodies of all three deceased crew members have been handed over to their families, who are making arrangements for their funerals.
The oil tanker Honour 25, sailing under the Somali flag from Oman to Somalia, was hijacked by pirates on April 21. There were 17 crew members aboard, 10 of them Pakistani nationals. The families of the Pakistani hostages spent months seeking the safe release of their loved ones, staging peaceful protests and repeatedly approaching government authorities.
During their captivity, the pirates initially demanded a ransom of $3 million, which was later reduced to $1.9 million and subsequently to $1 million. All the Pakistani crew members who were killed or injured were from different areas of Karachi.
The pirates came under pressure during a rescue operation and, while retreating from the vessel, opened indiscriminate fire on the abducted crew before fleeing the ship. Five sailors were killed, including three Pakistanis — Second Officer Kashif Umar, Third Engineer Mahmood Ansari and Boiler Rafiullah. The other two deceased crew members were an Indian sailor, Tanveer, and the chief engineer from Myanmar.
Four sailors were injured — Usman, Yasir, Ameen and Vicky from Indonesia — while Hussain Yousuf, Imran Ali and Yaseen remained safe. The two surviving Pakistani crew members later contacted the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust in Karachi using the ship captain’s mobile phone and provided details of the incident.
Puntland police said the Honour 25 had 18,500 barrels of oil on board when it was hijacked. The police had been pursuing three hijacked vessels off the Somali coast and had also rescued another oil tanker, Sibu 1, on Friday. However, 28 of the 41 pirates arrested during that operation later escaped while being transferred to jail, with several Puntland security officials accusing local police of complicity.
