They say they survive on boiled rice once a day and are forced to drink dirty water used by pirates.
An image of the crew members of the Honor 25 tanker posted by Somali pirates. Photo: Express
Sailors, including Pakistanis, held captive aboard the Somali oil tanker Honer 25 have run out of food, medicine and drinking water, crew members told their families on Saturday.
The tanker, which was traveling from Oman to Somalia, was captured on April 21 by more than 50 maritime pirates. There are a total of 17 crew members on board, 10 of whom are Pakistanis.
On Saturday, the pirates allowed the seventeen kidnapped sailors to contact their families. Pakistani sailors were also allowed to make a five-minute phone call to speak to their families.
Read: Families of Pakistani hostages held by Somali pirates urge government to form committee for their release
According to the ship’s third officer, Kashif Umar, who is from Karachi, only rice is left on the ship, which is boiled and eaten once a day.
He said three crew members are sick, but they also ran out of all the medications on board. Kashif added that the biggest problem is drinking water.
“Now they are forced to drink the dirty, muddy water that the pirates use because they have exhausted the crew’s water supply,” Umar said.
Ansar Burney Trust also received a video message from the ship’s captain, who is from the Philippines. In the video, the captain shows documents detailing the owner of the ship.
He appealed to the Pakistani government to urgently contact both the pirates and the ship’s owner to ensure the release of the Pakistani citizens.
The director of the Ansar Burney Trust said they were repeatedly approached from the ship asking for help, but the government had remained completely silent on the matter.
He added that the trust could not do much for the release of the Pakistani sailors unless the government cooperated with them.
This is the second time in 22 that the pirates have allowed the hostages to contact their families and the trust.
Read more: FO in contact with Somalia over kidnapping standoff
Last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said during a weekly briefing that Pakistan was in contact with the Somali government over the hostage situation involving Pakistani sailors aboard the hijacked oil tanker, adding that he believed the crew members were safe.
He said Pakistan’s embassy in Djibouti had approached Somali authorities, including the Foreign Ministry, and informed them that the ship was anchored off the coast of Eyl in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia.
“We have good reason to believe that our crew members are safe and sound,” the FO spokesperson said, adding that Somalia’s foreign ministry had been “very cooperative” and was closely monitoring the situation.
