Three remaining MT Honour 25 crew members en route to Karachi: FM Dar

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that the remaining three crew members of MT Honour 25 were en route to Karachi from Addis Ababa and would be reunited with their families later in the day.

On Sunday, an aircraft carrying four injured crew members and the remains of three MT Honour 25 sailors landed in Karachi's Jinnah International Airport

In a post on X, the foreign minister wrote, “I am pleased to share that the remaining three crew members of MT Honour 25 (Mr Imran Ali, Mr Husain Yousuf and Mr Muhammad Yasin) are en route to safely return home to Karachi from Addis Ababa later today and will be reunited with their families. InshAllah.”

“Our Ambassador in Addis Ababa met the three crew members and ensured that they were provided all necessary facilities and services during their stay in Addis Ababa,” he added.

He further added that the foreign office and the Government of Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, made every effort to secure the safe return of all our crew members. I am grateful to all those who supported these efforts.

“While we welcome the safe return of our people, we remain deeply saddened by the loss of three Pakistani crew members. May Allah grant them eternal peace and give strength to their families,” he added.

Pakistan remains firmly committed to working with international partners to combat piracy and ensure the safety and security of seafarers and maritime routes.

Read: Four Pakistani crew members from hijacked MT Honour 25 to arrive in Karachi tomorrow: Dar

On Sunday, the four injured Pakistani crew members of MT Honour 25, along with the remains of three others killed, were flown aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 694 from Addis Ababa to Karachi on Sunday, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

Sindh Governor Nehal Hashmi welcomed the injured Pakistanis upon their repatriation and attended the funeral prayers of Mahmood Ahmed Ansari and expressed condolences to his family.

Senior government officials such as Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani, and MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar also received the injured upon their return to the country.

Two of the injured people were from Karachi, while one was from Sahiwal and one from Peshawar. The two injured individuals from Peshawar and Sahiwal would depart from Karachi for their hometowns later on Sunday. 

Rafi Ullah Khan's mortal remains were handed over to the family, and his funeral prayers would be held after Isha prayers.

Read more: FO expresses condolences over deaths of five crew members in Somalia rescue operation

The oil tanker Honour 25, sailing under the Somali flag from Oman to Somalia, was hijacked by pirates on April 21. There were 17 crew members aboard, 10 of them Pakistani nationals. The families of the Pakistani hostages spent months seeking the safe release of their loved ones, staging peaceful protests and repeatedly approaching government authorities.

During their captivity, the pirates initially demanded a ransom of $3 million, which was later reduced to $1.9 million and subsequently to $1 million. All the Pakistani crew members who were killed or injured were from different areas of Karachi.

The pirates came under pressure during a rescue operation and, while retreating from the vessel, opened indiscriminate fire on the abducted crew before fleeing the ship. Five sailors were killed, including three Pakistanis — Second Officer Kashif Umar, Third Engineer Mahmood Ansari and Boiler Rafiullah. The other two deceased crew members were 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. The two surviving Pakistani crew members later contacted the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust in Karachi using the ship captain’s mobile phone and provided details of the incident.

Puntland police said the Honour 25 had 18,500 barrels of oil on board when it was hijacked. The police had been pursuing three hijacked vessels off the Somali coast and had also rescued another oil tanker, Sibu 1, on Friday. However, 28 of the 41 pirates arrested during that operation later escaped while being transferred to jail, with several Puntland security officials accusing local police of complicity.

The Gulf of Aden and Somalia coasts have seen a resurgence in piracy since April, with at least 15 attacks recorded this year, the highest number since 2013, according to figures from the International Maritime Organisation.