DM Monitoring
MOGADISHU: Security forces from Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland state have rescued the MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged petroleum products tanker seized by pirates in April, Puntland’s state television channel reported on Tuesday.
The broadcaster said pirates who had been holding the vessel had been detained and would be brought to court. Puntland officials did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Ansar Burney Trust’s director said that three Pakistani nationals, an Indian citizen and a Myanmar national were killed after Somali pirates opened fire on the crew members during the operation. The gunfire also left four other Pakistani nationals injured, the director added.
The MT Honour 25 was seized on April 21 around 30 nautical miles off Puntland’s coast with 17 crew members on board, including 10 Pakistanis.
The rescue follows a similar Puntland counter-piracy operation last week, when the regional maritime police force said it had freed the US-sanctioned tanker Sibu 1, which Somali pirates had hijacked in August.
Piracy has resurfaced off Somalia’s coast in recent years, raising concerns for shipping through the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean.
A previous wave of Somali piracy from 2008 to 2014 disrupted one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, cost the global economy billions of dollars and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments.
Pakistan, last month, had sought intervention from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to secure the release and safe return of 10 Pakistani seafarers being held aboard MT Honour 25.
