The MT Honour 25, carrying 17 crew members including 10 Pakistanis, was hijacked near Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region on April 21. Families of the hostages have expressed growing concern over their safety, citing deteriorating conditions aboard the vessel during the prolonged captivity.
Addressing the weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said it was unfortunate that despite sustained diplomatic efforts, the crew members had not yet been freed and had now spent around 50 days in captivity.
“We have made earnest efforts, and those efforts continue,” Andrabi said. “We are engaged with the Somali authorities, the shipowner, and relevant tribal leaders in the Puntland region to secure the crew’s early release and safe return.”
The spokesperson revealed that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar recently spoke with Somali Foreign Minister Abdul Salam Ali to discuss the situation.
During the conversation, Dar conveyed Pakistan’s serious concern over the continued detention of the crew and stressed the need for their immediate release and safe repatriation.
He also urged Somali authorities to take steps to improve the living conditions of all hostages on board, including the seven non-Pakistani crew members from Indonesia, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
According to Andrabi, the Somali foreign minister assured Pakistan that his government was making sincere and continued efforts to secure the release of the captives. Both sides agreed to remain in close contact until the matter is resolved.
The spokesperson said Pakistan had undertaken a series of diplomatic initiatives since the hijacking. In addition to Dar’s engagement with his Somali counterpart, Somalia’s ambassador in Islamabad was summoned for discussions with Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch regarding possible measures to expedite the crew’s release.
Pakistan’s embassy in Djibouti, which is accredited to Somalia, has also dispatched teams to Mogadishu to coordinate efforts with local authorities and stakeholders.
Furthermore, Andrabi said, several inter-ministerial and inter-departmental meetings had been held to review the situation, with another high-level meeting scheduled at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs next week.
“This matter remains a high priority for the government,” he said. “We deeply sympathise with the hostages and their families, but the situation is operationally complex.”
He explained that the captives are being held in Puntland, where negotiations are complicated by local tribal dynamics. The pirates and the shipowner belong to different tribes, adding further challenges to efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
“We urge patience while assuring the families that every possible effort is being made,” Andrabi said.
The hijacking of MT Honour 25 highlights the continuing threat of piracy in waters off the Horn of Africa, despite a significant decline in incidents over the past decade.
