Families of Pakistani sailors held aboard a hijacked oil tanker off Somalia staged protests in Karachi on Wednesday, pleading for urgent action to secure the release of their relatives after more than three weeks in captivity.
The Palau-flagged MT Honour 25 was seized by Somali pirates on April 21 near Somalia’s Puntland region while carrying 17 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis. Relatives say the sailors are surviving on boiled rice and dirty tank water as negotiations continue between the pirates and the vessel’s owner.
Ambreen Fatima, whose husband Syed Hussain Yousuf works as the tanker’s second engineer, joined other families and children at Karachi’s Native Jetty Bridge carrying signs demanding government intervention.
“My son says his brain isn’t functioning anymore because he is constantly worried about his father,” Fatima said, adding that her daughter had been hospitalized due to stress caused by the ordeal.
Fatima said the family last saw Yousuf during a brief video call six days ago, describing him as visibly weak and unwell.
The demonstration highlighted growing fears among relatives, who say many children of the hostages are suffering panic attacks and severe anxiety while waiting for news.
Somali pirate attacks, once widespread across the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, had declined in recent years but are now resurging amid instability in regional shipping routes. Maritime security concerns have intensified further following disruptions linked to the Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy corridor.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad had not been directly contacted by the pirates and that negotiations were being handled by the ship owner in coordination with Somali authorities.
He said officials from Pakistan’s embassy in Djibouti traveled to Somalia earlier this month and were informed that the crew remained alive and safe. However, Somali authorities reportedly ruled out storming the vessel because it is carrying flammable cargo.
Families say communication with the crew has been extremely limited. Mehwish Yasir, whose husband Yasir Khan works aboard the tanker as an oiler, said she had spoken to him only twice since he left Pakistan in January.
“Our younger son still thinks his father is coming home soon,” she said. “But we don’t even know if they will return.”