Families of Pakistani sailors held by Somali pirates for 23 days demand action in Karachi protest

Families of 10 Pakistani crew members held hostage aboard the hijacked tanker MT Honour 25 for 23 days gathered in Karachi on Wednesday to demand the sailors’ immediate release, as relatives warned that living conditions on the vessel were rapidly deteriorating and said frustration with the government’s limited response was reaching a breaking point.

The Details

The Palau-flagged product tanker MT Honour 25 was seized by Somali pirates on April 21 while sailing approximately 30 nautical miles off Somalia’s Puntland region, according to maritime security reports corroborated by Reuters and Al Jazeera. At the time of the hijacking, the vessel carried a total of 17 crew members, including 10 Pakistani nationals who now find themselves at the center of an international hostage standoff that has dragged on for more than three weeks without any sign of resolution.

Relatives of the captured sailors say they have received distressing accounts from the vessel in recent days. Crew members have reported that the ship has run out of clean water, leaving the hostages to survive on a single daily meal of boiled rice as their only sustenance. The descriptions of deteriorating and increasingly desperate conditions have intensified calls from families for urgent diplomatic intervention and direct government action to bring the sailors home safely before the already dire onboard situation worsens further.

On Wednesday, dozens of relatives and local supporters assembled at the Karachi Port Trust Native Jetty Bridge, situated near Pakistan’s main commercial port, to press their demands in a public demonstration. The protesters—many of them women and young children—carried handwritten placards calling for the crew’s safe return and appealed directly to federal authorities to take more decisive action to end the prolonged ordeal.

Ambreen Fatima, whose husband is among the hostages, described the profound emotional toll the crisis is taking on her family. Speaking to reporters at the demonstration, she said her 16-year-old son has been unable to concentrate on anything since his father was seized by armed pirates nearly a month ago. “He says his brain isn't functioning,” Fatima said. “He's worried about his dad and that's all that's on his mind.”

Another family member addressing the crowd told reporters, “Our only demand is the safe recovery and return of our loved ones.” The simple, repeated demand underscored a shared sentiment among the demonstrators: after 23 days in captivity, they are no longer willing to wait silently for the government to act.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has confirmed it is actively tracking the situation. In a statement issued in response to the families’ appeals, ministry representative Tahir Andrabi said the pirates have not established direct contact with Islamabad. “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. The official explanation, however, has done little to ease the concerns of the families gathered in Karachi, who say they have seen no tangible results from the diplomatic channels.

Context

The hijacking of the MT Honour 25 is not an isolated incident but part of a broader resurgence of Somali pirate activity along key shipping routes in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Maritime security reports noted that hijackings had declined significantly through much of 2025, but recent months have seen a renewed uptick in attacks threatening commercial traffic through one of the world’s busiest and most strategically vital maritime corridors, raising fresh concerns for vessel operators and crew safety throughout the region.

What's Next

The Express Tribune reported that relatives have warned they may begin a hunger strike if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif does not personally intervene to secure the sailors’ release. After 23 days with no visible breakthrough, the families said no concrete government efforts have reached them, and they threatened to escalate their protest action further if their demands remain unmet by authorities.

With negotiations understood to be continuing between the ship’s owner and the pirates, and with Somali authorities relaying intermittent updates to Islamabad, the fate of the 10 Pakistani crew members remains unresolved. The families in Karachi have made clear they will not disperse quietly, and have threatened further escalation—including a hunger strike—if their demands for direct and visible government intervention are not addressed in the coming days.