They say they survive on boiled rice once a day and are forced to drink dirty water used by pirates.
A photo of the Honor 25 tanker crew members released by Somali pirates. Photo: Express
Sailors, including Pakistanis, held captive aboard the Somali tanker Honer 25 are running out of food, medicine and drinking water, crew members told their families on Saturday.
The tanker, which was connecting Oman to Somalia, was seized on April 21 by more than 50 maritime pirates. The crew has a total of 17 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis.
On Saturday, the pirates allowed the seventeen kidnapped sailors to contact their families. The Pakistani sailors were also each given a five-minute phone call to speak with their loved ones.
Read: Families of Pakistani hostages held by Somali pirates urge government to form committee for their release
According to the ship’s third officer, Kashif Umar, originally from Karachi, all that is left on board is rice, which is boiled and eaten once a day.
He said three crew members were sick, but all medicines on board had also run out. Kashif added that the biggest problem is drinking water.
“They are now forced to drink the dirty, muddy water used by the pirates because the pirates have exhausted the crew’s water reserves,” Umar said.
The Ansar Burney Trust also received a video message from the ship’s captain, who is from the Philippines. In the video, the captain shows documents detailing the ship’s ownership.
He called on the Pakistani government to urgently contact the pirates and the ship’s owner to secure the release of the Pakistani citizens.
The head of the Ansar Burney Trust said they had been approached several times from the ship asking for help, but the government had remained completely silent on the issue.
He added that the trust could not do much for the release of the Pakistani sailors unless the government cooperated with them.
This is the second time in 22 that the pirates have allowed the hostages to contact their families and the trust.
Learn more: FO in contact with Somalia following a hijacking
Last week, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told a weekly news briefing that Pakistan was in contact with the Somali government over the hostage situation involving Pakistani sailors aboard the hijacked tanker, adding that he believed the crew members were safe.
He said the Pakistani embassy in Djibouti had contacted Somali authorities, including the foreign ministry, and was informed that the ship was anchored off the coast of Eyl in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia.
“We have good reason to believe that our crew members are safe,” the FO spokesperson said, adding that the Somali Foreign Ministry had been “very cooperative” and was closely monitoring the situation.
