Indian Seafarer Among 5 Killed By Somali Pirates On Hijacked Tanker Amidst Rescue Mission

Five crew members lost their lives to Somali Pirates during a rescue mission to free their ship. The incident occurred when authorities launched a mission to save the crew of the hijacked petroleum products tanker MT Honour 25, which had been seized by armed men in April.

The ship had 17 crew members, of whom 5 were shot by the pirates. Among the deceased, three were from Pakistan, one each from Myanmar and India.

The deaths of these seafarers onboard the Palau-flagged oil tanker are the first in more than a decade due to piracy. The authorities at Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland said that they also rescued another ship yesterday, which had been hijacked by the pirates in May.

Piracy has raised its head yet again off Somalia, which experts say is mainly due to the diversion of ships to the route around Africa, as a result of the U.S .-Iran war and the threat of Houthis in the Red Sea, which has made the waters of the Gulf largely unsafe for shipping.

Since oil prices have also increased due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas, pirates are targeting oil tankers more than any other commercial vessels.

After the mission ended, the Information Ministry stated that the teams had freed the vessel and arrested 16 pirates. However, as soon as the pirates knew the forces were on their way, they killed 5 crew members. Authorities extended their deepest condolences to the families of the deceased seafarers.

The authorities undertook another anti-piracy mission the previous week, during which they rescued a tanker that was under U.S. sanctions. Somali pirates had seized Sibu 1 in August, but it was freed by Puntland’s Maritime Police Force.

The Force had also saved the MT Eureka oil tanker, which was hijacked in May. The rescue was challenging for this one since pirates opened fire at the police personnel as they reached close to the ship. However, they abandoned the ship and fled to the shore.

Specialised teams are conducting an operation to find those who escaped and have even offered them a chance to turn themselves in.