14 Pakistani sailors stuck on MT Dorin at Aden for 7 weeks ask government for help

Fourteen Pakistani sailors have been stuck aboard the tanker MT Dorin at Aden, Yemen, for about seven weeks and have asked the government for urgent diplomatic help to bring them home, ARY News reported on 24 September 2026.

How they got stuck

• 14 April 2026: the Pakistani crew joined the ship at Djibouti.
• 30 July 2026: MT Dorin arrived at Aden.
• 6 August 2026: Yemen's Port State Control detained the vessel at Aden anchorage, according to sources quoted by ARY, over allegedly fake flag documents.

There are 23 people aboard: 14 Pakistanis, 8 Indians and 1 Bangladeshi.

The Pakistani crew say they have nothing to do with the flag papers and that the dispute is between the ship's owners, the company and the Yemeni authorities. They want the government to arrange their return. No statement from the Foreign Office or Pakistan's mission for Yemen had been reported by Thursday night.

Not the first time

Pakistani seafarers have been caught up in Yemen's troubles before. In September 2025, a gas tanker with an all-Pakistani crew of 24 plus its captain was hit by a drone while docked at a Yemeni port, and the sailors were kept aboard for more than ten days while the government worked on their return, Marine Insight reported.

If a relative is on the ship

• Register the case with the Foreign Office's crisis management unit through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mofa.gov.pk). Give the sailor's name, CNIC, passport number, CDC (seaman's book) number and the vessel name, MT Dorin.
• Contact the manning agent in Karachi that placed the crew. Under the Maritime Labour Convention, the shipowner is responsible for repatriation costs and for wages while crew are held on board.
• Ask the Directorate General Ports and Shipping in Karachi, which regulates Pakistani seafarers, to take up the case.
• Keep a record of every call and message; wages owed are easier to claim later with dates.

For money sent home from the Gulf, today's dirham and riyal rates are on our data pages.

We will update this story when the government responds.