'Every moment felt like years': MT Honour sailor recalls captivity

After five and a half months as hostages of Somali pirates, the surviving Pakistani crew of the oil tanker MT Honour 25 are home in Karachi. But for Ameen bin Shams, who was shot four times, the memory of their last night at sea will not fade.

“Every moment we spent in the captivity of Somali pirates felt like years. We lived in constant fear of death, never knowing when the pirates might kill us,” he told The Express Tribune.

A night on the deck

The nightmare began when Somali security forces freed another vessel anchored some distance away. The pirates on the Honour 25 then ordered the crew to start the engines and move. It was night, and a Somali naval vessel was about 10 nautical miles away.

“That night was nothing short of a nightmare. The pirates gathered all of us on the ship’s deck in freezing temperatures. We remained there throughout the night without proper clothing or footwear,” Ameen said.

At daybreak, the crew were allowed below deck. But just as they lay down to rest, they were ordered back up. All except two, Imran and Hussain Yousuf, were tied to the deck railing. Imran later told the Ansar Burney Trust by phone that he and Hussain had been in the engine room.

“Gunfire suddenly erupted”

By then, the Somali naval vessel was just one nautical mile away. The security forces gave the pirates 30 minutes to surrender the ship and free the hostages. They refused.

According to Imran, gunfire suddenly erupted, with bullets piercing the inside of the ship, and the exchange of fire lasted more than two hours. He said a pirate known as Arab panicked and opened fire on the part of the ship where the hostages were tied.

There were 41 pirates on board. After so many months together, the crew knew most of them by name, and the pirates knew theirs.

The security forces took control of the ship. Five pirates were killed, and 13 were wounded and arrested.

The cost

Five crew members were killed, including three Pakistanis: second officer Kashif Umar, third engineer Mahmood Ansari and boiler worker Rafiullah. An Indian sailor and the Myanmar chief engineer also died.

The four injured Pakistanis who arrived in Karachi on Sunday evening were taken to Aga Khan Hospital. Ameen’s wife, Ayesha, said he had suffered four bullet wounds. The bodies of the three dead sailors have been handed to their families for burial.

“What is the point of compensation now?”

At Karachi airport, Muzammil, son of Mahmood Ansari, said the families had repeatedly begged for the hostages to be rescued safely, but the government had not listened. “What is the point of offering compensation now?” he asked. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced Rs12.5 million for the families of the dead.

Five and a half months

The Palau-flagged tanker, carrying 18,500 barrels of oil and 17 crew, 10 of them Pakistani, was seized on April 21 about 30 nautical miles off Puntland while sailing from Oman to Somalia. The pirates first demanded $3 million in ransom, later cutting it to $1.9 million and then $1 million. Throughout, the families staged protests and pleaded with the authorities in Karachi.

Why it matters

Ameen’s account shows what these men endured, and how close the rescue came to killing them all. It also raises hard questions about why five months passed without a deal, and whether more could have been done to bring them home safely. Read our reports on the crew’s return to Karachi and on the recovery of the tanker.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune.