Somali pirates: MT Honour 25 recovered, crew report 3 of 10 Pakistani sailors killed

Somali pirates held the oil tanker MT Honour 25 for more than five months. On Tuesday 29 September 2026, forces from Somalia's Puntland region took the ship back, and the 10 Pakistani sailors on board are no longer in pirate hands. Reports from the crew say several sailors were killed or injured during the operation. As of Tuesday night, Pakistan's Foreign Office had not confirmed the casualty figures.

What happened on Tuesday

The Puntland Maritime Police Force said its "naval and ground units" carried out a planned operation in the Dharin-Bar area of Bandar Beyla district, on Puntland's coast, Dawn reported. Puntland state television said the pirates involved in the hijacking had been arrested and would be taken to court, according to Geo News.

The Palau-flagged tanker was hijacked on 21 April 2026, about 30 nautical miles off Puntland. Reports disagree on the crew size: Geo News gives 17, and an earlier Dawn version gave 19 (10 Pakistanis, 7 Indonesians, 1 Indian and 1 Sri Lankan). Every report agrees that 10 Pakistanis were on board.

Reports of deaths and injuries

ARY News reported that five crew members were killed when Puntland forces attacked the ship, three of them Pakistani: Second Officer Kashif Umar, Third Engineer Mahmood Ansari and oiler Rafiullah Khan. It said the deaths were confirmed by the ship's Indonesian captain to a representative of the Ansar Burney Trust, and that four crew members were injured. According to ARY, the steering was damaged and the ship is being towed on a journey of about three days. Second Engineer Hussain Yousuf told the channel the crew needed "an immediate helicopter to transfer the injured and the bodies".

Dawn quoted Ayesha Ameen, the wife of crew member Ameen Bin Shams, who said the bodies and the injured were still on the ship and "we don't know how bad the injuries are".

Neither the Foreign Office nor Puntland authorities had confirmed these deaths by the time of publishing. We will update this story when they do.

What Pakistan has done so far

Last month Pakistan asked the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to help secure the release and safe return of the 10 Pakistani seafarers, Geo News reported. Families had spent months without regular contact with the crew.

Tuesday's operation came a week after Puntland forces freed another hijacked tanker, the Sibu 1, which was seized in August.

If a family member works at sea

• Keep the manning agent's details. The company that hired the sailor is responsible for crew welfare and should be your first contact for news.
• Contact the Foreign Office. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs runs a Crisis Management Unit for Pakistanis in difficulty abroad and works through Pakistan's missions overseas.
• Check a job before a relative accepts it. Our report on trade test centre visa fraud explains how to check an overseas job and agent with the Bureau of Emigration.