Pirates off the coast of Somalia. – Reuters/archive
KARACHI:
The tanker, which sails under the Somali flag, was carrying oil from Oman to Somalia when pirates captured it on April 21. Among the ten Pakistanis kidnapped, eight are from Karachi.
Mehwish gets emotional as she recalls the moment on April 21 when she was on the phone with her husband, Yasir Khan, around 4:30 pm; The pirates then took control of the ship.
She says her husband abruptly ended the call, claiming that pirates had taken over their ship.
The next call came on April 24, made from the captain’s phone, during which Yasir informed him that each hostage was guarded by an armed pirate equipped with heavy and dangerous weapons.
Yasir has worked as a boiler operator in the shipping industry since 2009. Mehwish says he left the profession after his marriage in 2010 because he couldn’t bear to be away from his children. After a gap of 16 years, he rejoined and boarded the ship on the 17th of this month.
Yasir’s eldest son, seven-year-old Bashar, pleads for his father to return to Pakistan as soon as possible. His youngest son, Umar, does not fully understand the situation but knows that “the pirates are thieves” who have taken his father.
Every Pakistani held by pirates has a harrowing story. In an audio message circulating on social media, a man named Amin can be heard crying and telling his father that pirates are about to kill him, asking him to take care of his wife and two children.
Amin’s wife Ayesha told The Express PAkGazette that the message was received on April 21 and that he seemed extremely distressed. Amin had recently joined the merchant navy as a shipowner.
He traveled from Pakistan to Oman in early December and his son was born in the last week of December. He has not yet seen his only son.
Among the captives is Rafiullah, a resident of Manora Cantt in Karachi. His brother Sanaullah said that on April 24, the pirates allowed each hostage to make a five-minute call to their families.
During that call, Rafiullah revealed that the ship, its cargo and the pirates themselves belong to Somalia. Sanaullah added that his parents are sick, so they have not yet been informed of Rafiullah’s kidnapping.
Kashif Umar, a resident of Karachi buffer zone, has been associated with the merchant navy for the last 25 years. His son Izhar Umar said his last contact was on April 23, when his father reported that food supplies on the ship had run out.
Social worker and human rights lawyer Ansar Burney told The Express PAkGazette that rumors are circulating about ransom demands, but so far no such demand has been made. He said no formal action has yet been initiated at the government level for the release of the Pakistani captives.
Of the ten Pakistani hostages held on the oil tanker “Honour 25”, one belongs to Sahiwal in Punjab and another to Swabi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The remaining crew includes four Indonesians and three people from India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
