Remaining three Pakistanis rescued from hijacked vessel expected to fly home Oct 7

• Dar thanks Somalia, EU Naval Force for assistance in rescue.
• Embassy in Djibouti team accompanying crew to Addis Ababa.
• DPM Dar reaffirms commitment to combating maritime piracy.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Monday announced that the three remaining Pakistani crew members of the hijacked tanker MT Honour 25 had been successfully rescued and flown to Addis Ababa, accompanied by a team from Pakistan’s Embassy in Djibouti.

The remaining crew members were identified as Imran Ali, Muhammad Yasin and Syed Husain Yousuf.

Dar said the three crew members would be received in Addis Ababa and were expected to depart for Pakistan on the first available Ethiopian Airlines flight to Karachi, anticipated on October 7.

He expressed deep gratitude to the Government of Somalia and the European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta, which had been present in the vicinity of MT Honour 25, for their assistance and cooperation in securing the release of the crew.

Pakistan, he said, remained firmly committed to strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation to combat maritime piracy and safeguard the security and freedom of international maritime routes.

The rescue of the three remaining crew members came a day after a special aircraft carried four injured Pakistani crew members and the mortal remains of three killed sailors to Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Sunday.

Sindh Governor Nehal Hashmi and provincial ministers Saeed Ghani and Syed Nasir Hussain Shah were among senior officials present at the airport to receive the victims.

The injured crew members — Usman Ghani, Aqeel Khan, Ameen bin Shams and Yasir Khan — along with the mortal remains of Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmad Ansari, arrived aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 694.

The injured Pakistanis later exited the airport where they were welcomed by officials.

On October 2, DPM Dar had said that three Pakistani crew members — Imran Ali, Yasin Muhammad and Syed Yousuf Hussain — remained aboard MT Honour 25 along with the captain, with efforts underway to facilitate their safe return.

The Palau-flagged petroleum products tanker had been seized by Somali pirates on April 21, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Puntland, with 17 crew members aboard, including 10 Pakistani nationals.

Puntland authorities subsequently launched a rescue operation, freeing the tanker and capturing 16 pirates. However, before the operation began, five crew members were killed — three Pakistanis, one Indian and one Myanmar national — while four others were injured.