‘How do you tell a three-year-old?’: Pakistani families plead for help as Somali piracy resurges

Key facts

• Somali pirates hijacked the oil tanker MT Honour 25 on April 21, carrying 18,500 barrels of oil bound for Mogadishu.
• The crew includes 10 Pakistanis, 4 Indonesians, and one each from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India.
• A second tanker, MT Eureka, was hijacked off Yemen’s coast at 5:00 AM local time on an unspecified date and taken toward Somalia.
• Piracy off Somalia has surged since late 2023, when Houthi attacks diverted international naval forces.
• Four successful pirate hijackings have occurred in the past two weeks.
• Ameen bin Shams, 29, a fitter from Karachi, left for his first merchant navy contract on December 9 and has been held hostage for nearly two weeks.
• His daughter Zimal, 3, asks daily when her father will return; his son Rahim, born December 24, has never met him.

A family’s ordeal as a hijacking unfolds

Ayesha Ameen, 26, was leaving her home in Karachi last week when her three-year-old daughter Zimal tugged her sleeve and asked if she was finally going to the airport to pick up her father. “How do you tell a three-year-old that her father is held captive and cannot come home?” Ayesha said. “How can anybody answer that?” Her husband, Ameen bin Shams, 29, is among 10 Pakistani sailors held hostage on the oil tanker MT Honour 25, seized by Somali pirates on April 21. The 17-member crew also includes four Indonesians, one Sri Lankan, one Myanmar national and one Indian. Ameen had left on December 9 for his first merchant navy contract, working as a fitter through a Karachi-based crewing agency. His four-month-old son, Rahim, born on December 24, has never met his father. Before the hijacking, Ameen would call nightly, often on video, showing his wife the sunrise over open water and clips of dolphins. “He often said: ‘This is a good life, I am quite enjoying this,’” Ayesha recalled. “It was his dream to be part of the merchant navy.”

A second tanker seized in a widening threat

Somali pirates have hijacked a second oil tanker, the MT Eureka, off the coast of Yemen, according to multiple Somali security officials. The vessel was overrun in the Gulf of Aden near the port of Qana at 5:00 AM local time and is now sailing toward Somali waters. It is expected to anchor there within hours. The MT Eureka was sailing under the flag of Togo before the hijacking. The pirates departed from a remote coastal area near Qandala in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, three security officials said. This marks the fourth successful pirate hijacking in two weeks, following the seizure of the MT Honour 25 on April 22. In a separate incident, the United armed persons on a skiff approached a bulk carrier near Al-Mukala, Yemen. Those pirates departed from near Caluula, 209km from the departure point of the MT Eureka hijackers. The two incidents indicate piracy is expanding across Somalia’s 3,333km coastline, the longest in mainland Africa.

Why piracy is surging again off Somalia

Somali piracy, which had been in decline since 2011, has surged since late 2023, when Houthi rebels began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. The attacks forced international navies to redeploy to counter the Houthi threat, leaving a security vacuum that armed groups on the Somali coast have exploited. “The on-going crisis with the pirates is much worse than many realize. There are increasing movements (of armed groups) all over the coast,” a security official from Puntland said. The European Union Naval Force, which oversees anti-piracy operations in Somali waters, has yet to address the latest hijackings. The MT Honour 25 was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil bound for Mogadishu when it was seized. The MT Eureka was taken near the port of Qana, a strategic chokepoint in the Gulf of Aden. The back-to-back hijackings have raised fears that piracy is returning to levels not seen since the early 2010s.

Pakistani families demand government action

Families of the Pakistani hostages are urging the government to form a committee to secure their release. Ayesha Ameen described the weeks before the hijacking as the happiest her husband had ever been. He had been contributing from his earnings to preparations for her sister’s wedding on May 9, sending excited replies to photographs of clothes and gifts, even though he knew he would not attend. One day in late April, Ameen mentioned he was filling out a next-of-kin form, a standard document for sailors in case something goes wrong at sea. Ayesha told him to stop, not to say such things. Now she struggles to explain his absence to their daughter, who asks about him every day. The Pakistani Foreign Office has stated that it believes the seamen are safe, but families say they have received no concrete updates. “He was glad the family was doing well,” Ayesha said of her husband’s last calls. The wedding is now days away, and Ameen’s seat will remain empty.

What comes next for the hostages and regional security

The hijackings pose a test for Somali authorities and international naval forces. The Puntland security official warned that pirate movements are increasing all along the coast, suggesting the threat is not isolated. The absence of a response from EUNAVFOR has raised questions about the adequacy of current anti-piracy measures. For the families in Pakistan, the wait is agonizing. Ayesha’s sister’s wedding on May 9 will go ahead, but the joy is shadowed by uncertainty. “How do you tell a three-year-old that her father is held captive?” Ayesha asked. The answer remains elusive as the pirates steer their prizes toward Somali waters, and the world’s navies remain focused on the Houthi crisis.

A resurgence with deep roots

The return of Somali piracy is not a sudden phenomenon but the result of a security shift that began in late 2023. The Houthi campaign in the Red Sea drew away the naval patrols that had kept pirates at bay for over a decade. Armed groups on Somalia’s coast, long dormant, have seized the opportunity. With four hijackings in two weeks, the pattern is unmistakable. The MT Honour 25 and MT Eureka are the most visible signs of a broader trend. For the 10 Pakistani sailors and their families, the crisis is personal. Ameen bin Shams had finally achieved his dream of joining the merchant navy. Now his daughter asks every day when he will come home.

The bottom line

• Somali piracy has resurged since late 2023, with four hijackings in two weeks, as Houthi attacks divert international naval forces.
• Two oil tankers, MT Honour 25 and MT Eureka, have been hijacked in 10 days, with the latter taken at 5:00 AM local time off Yemen.
• The MT Honour 25 crew includes 10 Pakistani sailors, whose families are demanding government action and a committee for their release.
• Ameen bin Shams, a 29-year-old fitter from Karachi, left for his first contract on December 9 and has been held hostage since April 21.
• increasing pirate movements along Somalia’s 3,333km coastline, indicating the threat is expanding.
• The European Union Naval Force has not yet responded to the latest hijackings, raising concerns about anti-piracy readiness.