Last Three Pakistani Crew of MT Honour 25 Rescued, Flown to Addis Ababa

The three remaining members of the MT Honour 25 crew have been rescued and flown to Addis Ababa, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Monday.

The men, Imran Ali, Muhammad Yasin and Syed Husain Yousuf, were accompanied by a team from Pakistan’s embassy in Djibouti. Dar said they were expected to leave Addis Ababa for Karachi on the first available Ethiopian Airlines flight on October 7.

With this development, all seven surviving members of the MT Honour 25 crew are now closer to returning home. Four injured crew members, Usman Ghani, Aqeel Khan, Ameen bin Shams and Yasir Khan, arrived in Karachi on Sunday aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 694 from Addis Ababa.

The same flight also carried the remains of three Pakistani sailors who died in the incident, Rafi Ullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmad Ansari. Their remains were handed to their families after arrival in Karachi.

Thanks to Somalia and EU naval force

Dar expressed his “deep gratitude” to the government of Somalia and the European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta for helping secure the crew’s release. He said the naval force had been “present in the vicinity of MT Honour 25” and thanked it for its “assistance and cooperation” in securing the crew.

“Pakistan remains firmly committed to strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation to combat maritime piracy and safeguard the security and freedom of international maritime routes,” he said in a post on X.

The MT Honour 25 crew’s months in pirate captivity

The oil tanker Honour 25, sailing under the Somali flag from Oman to Somalia, was hijacked by pirates on April 21. Seventeen crew members were aboard, ten of them Pakistani nationals. The families of the hostages spent months campaigning for their release, staging peaceful protests and repeatedly approaching government authorities.

The pirates first demanded a ransom of $3 million, later cutting it to $1.9 million and then $1 million. When Puntland forces moved against them, the retreating pirates opened indiscriminate fire on the captive crew before fleeing the ship.

Five sailors were killed: three Pakistanis, Second Officer Kashif Umar, Third Engineer Mahmood Ansari and Boiler Rafiullah, along with an Indian sailor, Tanveer, and the chief engineer from Myanmar. Four sailors were injured, Usman, Yasir, Ameen and Vicky from Indonesia, while Hussain Yousuf, Imran Ali and Yaseen remained safe.

Puntland police said the Honour 25 was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil when it was hijacked. The force had been pursuing three hijacked vessels off the Somali coast and also rescued another tanker, Sibu 1, on Friday, though 28 of the 41 pirates arrested in that operation later escaped while being moved to jail.

Piracy has surged in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia this year, with at least 15 attacks recorded, the highest number since 2013, according to the International Maritime Organisation.

Who are the three rescued crew members?

Imran Ali, Muhammad Yasin and Syed Husain Yousuf, the last of the seven surviving Pakistani crew of MT Honour 25.

When will they reach Pakistan?

Foreign Minister Dar said they are expected to fly from Addis Ababa to Karachi on October 7.

How many died in the hijacking?

Five sailors were killed, including three Pakistanis, when retreating pirates opened fire on the crew during the rescue operation.