'Making every effort' to repatriate sailors killed during rescue off Somalia coast: FO

The surviving crew members have been safely brought ashore at Bandar Beyla, while a team from Pakistan’s Embassy in Djibouti is travelling to the area to assist the Pakistani nationals. The Foreign Office said Pakistan remains in close contact with Somali authorities and other relevant stakeholders through its diplomatic mission and concerned authorities.

It added that efforts were underway to ensure medical care for the injured, facilitate the transportation of the deceased sailors’ remains and arrange the safe return of the surviving Pakistani crew members. A day earlier, Puntland’s information ministry said its forces had recovered the tanker and arrested several suspected pirates during the operation.

The authorities said five crew members were killed before the rescue operation began, including three Pakistanis, one Myanmar national and one Indian national. The Palau-flagged MT Honour 25 was hijacked on April 21, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Puntland.

The vessel was carrying 17 crew members, including 10 Pakistani nationals,. Ansar Burney, director of the Ansar Burney Trust, confirmed the casualties and said his organisation had repeatedly alerted relevant authorities about the threats facing the crew.

He called for the safe return of the injured sailors and the handover of the deceased crew members’ bodies to their families.

Among those killed was second officer Kashif Umar, a Karachi resident who had spent around 25 years in the merchant navy., Umar had reported during his last conversation that supplies including food and drinking water aboard the tanker were running low.

Last month, Pakistan sought the intervention of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to help secure the release and safe return of the 10 Pakistani seafarers aboard the tanker.