Pakistani families are searching desperately for answers as their loved ones remain hostage aboard a hijacked oil tanker, marking a resurgence of Somali piracy that had been largely suppressed for years.
Three-year-old Zimal tugs at her mother's sleeve each day, asking when they will go to the airport to pick up her father. Her four-month-old brother Rahim has never met the man whose voice he hears on occasional, monitored phone calls from pirates holding him captive off the Somali coast.
"How do you tell a three-year-old that her father is held captive and cannot come home?" asked Ayesha Ameen, whose husband Ameen bin Shams is among the hostages. "How can anybody answer that?"
Ameen, a 29-year-old ship fitter, is one of 10 Pakistani sailors in the 17-member crew of the MT Honour 25, seized by Somali pirates on April 21 while carrying approximately 18,000 barrels of oil. The Palau-flagged tanker was hijacked about 30 nautical miles off Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, with six gunmen initially boarding before reinforcements brought the total number of pirates to at least 11.
The hijacking represents the most concentrated burst of maritime piracy in years, with at least three vessels seized off Somali waters since April 20. The resurgence comes as international naval patrols that had suppressed Somali hijackings were diverted to the Red Sea to counter Houthi attacks on shipping, creating a security vacuum that pirates have exploited.
For families like the Ameens, living in the lower-middle-class Karachi neighborhood of Malir Khokhrapar, the ordeal has become a daily torment of uncertainty. Ameen had finally achieved his dream of joining the merchant navy after years working at a Karachi shipyard, earning more than ever before to support his growing family.
"He often said: 'This is a good life, I am quite enjoying this.' It was his dream to be part of the merchant navy," Ayesha recalled.
The last normal conversation came in late April when Ameen mentioned filling out a next-of-kin form — standard procedure for sailors. The next day, pirates struck.
On April 23, two days after the hijacking, Ameen managed a brief, panicked call to his wife. "He was crying," Ayesha said. He told her he loved his family and asked her to give his love to their children, including the son he had never met.
Muzammil Ahmed Ansari, 23, learned of his father's captivity three days after the hijacking when Mehmood Ahmed Ansari, a 55-year-old third engineer, sent a desperate voice message saying they were hijacked and asking the family to contact the government.
"When we wake up in the morning, we wonder what news we will get," Muzammil explained. "When we sleep, we wonder what news will come the next day. It is like limbo. Not knowing what comes next."
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