'We need help': Pakistani hostages held by Somali pirates issue desperate video plea

Ten Pakistani crew members held hostage by Somali pirates aboard the hijacked oil tanker MT Honour 25 have appealed for urgent government intervention through a newly surfaced video, saying they have been in captivity for 57 days, face severe shortages of food and water, and need immediate help to secure their release.In the video, the vessel’s second officer, Syed Kashif Umar, said the Pakistani sailors were being held by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia and urged authorities to act swiftly. He said the crew had little food, several hostages had fallen ill, and the ship’s owners were unwilling to negotiate with the pirates.Calling for immediate action, Umar appealed to the government to persuade the shipping company to engage in talks with the captors and secure the crew’s release. The Indonesian captain of the vessel also issued a plea to his government for assistance.The latest appeal comes as negotiations over the hostages’ release remain deadlocked. Diplomatic sources said the vessel is still anchored off the Somali coast while discussions continue through the ship’s owner. According to the sources, Somali authorities are communicating with the pirates in an effort to free the crew.The pirates initially demanded a ransom of $10 million but later reduced it to $4 million. Despite the lower demand, no breakthrough has been reported and none of the 17 crew members aboard has been released.Pakistan’s Foreign Office said last week that the government remains committed to securing the release of its citizens held by Somali pirates for nearly two months. Foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the pirates had not contacted Islamabad directly and had shown no interest in negotiating with the government.“The ship owner is negotiating with the pirates and is in touch with the Somali government, which is keeping Pakistan informed of updates,” Andrabi said.He added that a team from Pakistan’s embassy in Djibouti visited Somalia from May 7 to May 10 and was informed that the hostages were safe. Somali authorities reportedly told the delegation that they could not storm the vessel because it was carrying flammable cargo.

Somali piracy resurges; ransom talks remain stalled

The MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged product tanker carrying 17 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis, was hijacked by pirates near Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region on April 21.Families of the hostages have repeatedly warned that conditions aboard the vessel are worsening. Crew members who were briefly allowed to contact relatives reportedly said the ship had run out of clean water and that sailors were surviving on boiled rice once a day while drinking dirty tank water.The hijacking comes amid renewed concerns over maritime security in the region. Somalia’s piracy crisis, which peaked in 2011 with hundreds of attacks, had largely subsided following international naval patrols and tighter shipping security measures. However, recent reports from the European Union naval mission, Operation Atalanta, indicate a resurgence in pirate activity off the East African nation’s coast, with multiple attacks recorded in recent weeks.At least three vessels were hijacked off Puntland in April, prompting the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations to issue a warning of a “substantial” threat in the area.