Five crew members aboard an oil tanker seized by pirates off the Somali coast were killed before regional security forces retook the vessel, a senior official told the BBC on Tuesday.
Bile Qabowsade, Puntland’s deputy information minister, stated that the fatalities occurred prior to the board of the MT Hoarner by local forces. The deceased included three Pakistani nationals, one Indian, and one citizen of Myanmar. Additionally, four other crew members were injured, among them three Pakistanis and one Indian.
The tanker, transporting approximately 18,500 barrels of crude oil intended for Mogadishu, was hijacked in April by six armed assailants while navigating near the coast between the fishing towns of Xaafun and Bander Beyla. At the time of the abduction, officials reported 17 crew members on board, comprising 10 Pakistanis, four Indonesians, one Indian, one Sri Lankan, and one Myanmar national.
Authorities have arrested 16 suspected pirates, while others escaped and remain under pursuit. Qabowsade denied allegations that Puntland security forces assisted some pirates in fleeing. No further details were provided regarding the specific circumstances of the crew members’ deaths or the method used by the pirates to seize control of the ship.
The incident marks a resurgence in maritime crime along the Somali coast. Piracy had declined significantly after 2011 due to international naval interventions, but attacks and hijackings have increased in recent years. In response to the rising threat, Puntland security forces have intensified patrols in the region.
Arrested sixteen, but how many actually got away? The report says some escaped. This won’t solve anything.
Why are so many of the crew members from Pakistan and India? It seems like a recurring pattern.
I thought piracy had basically ended after 2011. How is this resurgence happening again?
This is absolutely heartbreaking. Five men dead before the rescue team even boarded. Unforgivable.