{"id":2592,"date":"2026-08-13T16:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=2592"},"modified":"2026-08-13T17:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:03:52","slug":"dar-orders-intensified-diplomacy-for-release-of-pakistani-sailors-held-by-somali-pirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/13\/dar-orders-intensified-diplomacy-for-release-of-pakistani-sailors-held-by-somali-pirates\/","title":{"rendered":"Dar orders intensified diplomacy for release of Pakistani sailors held by Somali pirates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar directed \u201cstakeholders\u201d on Thursday to maintain close and regular coordination and intensify diplomatic engagement with national and international partners to facilitate the release of 10 Pakistani sailors who have been held hostage by Somali pirates since April.<\/p>\n<p>The sailors were among the crew of the MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged oil tanker that was\u00a0hijacked\u00a0by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia, on April 21. Besides the 10 Pakistani crew members, the hostages also include seven Indonesians, including the captain, as well as an Indian and a Sri Lankan.<\/p>\n<p>During more than three months of their captivity, there has been\u00a0no progress\u00a0either in negotiations or the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for their recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Foreign Office (FO) has been\u00a0saying that efforts continue for their release and return.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement posted on X today, it said Dar chaired a high-level meeting to review Pakistan\u2019s \u201cintensified efforts\u201d for the safe release of the sailors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe DPM\/FM directed all relevant stakeholders to maintain close and regular coordination and intensify diplomatic engagement with national and international partners, including the Somali authorities and relevant international organisations, to facilitate the safe release of our citizens,\u201d the FO stated.<\/p>\n<p>The FO said the government remained \u201cfully seized\u201d of the situation and that Dar expressed hope that sustained and coordinated engagement would lead to a positive outcome and the seamen\u2019s safe return.<\/p>\n<p>It added that DPM Dar also expressed solidarity with the families of the sailors.<\/p>\n<p>On August 7, more than 100 days after being taken hostage by Somali pirates, the crew members on board MT Honour 25 released another\u00a0distress message\u00a0in which they had appealed directly to the Pakistani government for their release.<\/p>\n<p>In the two video messages, the Pakistani hostages and foreigners could be seen in a state of extreme distress, with most looking sick and weak. They requested that the Pakistani government talk to the Somali pirates and take steps to release them.<\/p>\n<p>Since the hijacking, the crew has made several emotional videos and audio\u00a0appeals, while reporting that they have run out of clean water, food and medicine.<\/p>\n<p>The hostages are victims of an \u201cownership crisis\u201d, as it is not clearly established who owns the ship and the man previously thought to be the owner was later revealed to be more likely a middleman who hired them.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, under the supervision of the Somali pirates, there were several videos and phone calls to the families of the hostages to pressure them to pay the ransom. But after mid-June, the messages had stopped, until the latest appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar directed \u201cstakeholders\u201d on Thursday to maintain close and regular coordination and intensify diplomatic engagement with national and international partners to facilitate the release of 10 Pakistani sailors who have been held hostage by Somali pirates since April. The sailors were among the crew of the MT [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dar orders intensified diplomacy for release of Pakistani sailors held by Somali pirates - Diplomag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/13\/dar-orders-intensified-diplomacy-for-release-of-pakistani-sailors-held-by-somali-pirates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dar orders intensified diplomacy for release of Pakistani sailors held by Somali pirates - Diplomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar directed \u201cstakeholders\u201d on Thursday to maintain close and regular coordination and intensify diplomatic engagement with national and international partners to facilitate the release of 10 Pakistani sailors who have been held hostage by Somali pirates since April. 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