Somali pirates killed five crew members aboard a captured oil tanker before regional security forces liberated the vessel, authorities in Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland region confirmed on Tuesday. The lethal violence on the Palau-flagged MT Honour 25 represents the first recorded fatalities caused by Somali maritime hijackers in more than a decade. The bloodshed highlights a sharp resurgence in piracy across strategic Horn of Africa shipping lanes.
The raid followed months of captivity.
Puntland’s Information Ministry stated that pirate captors executed five hostages directly before maritime tactical units stormed the vessel. The victims included three crew members from Pakistan, one from India, and one from Myanmar. Four other sailors, comprising three Pakistanis and one Indian, sustained injuries during the encounter, while security teams arrested 16 suspected pirates on board.
The tanker was transporting 18,500 barrels of oil when seized on April 21.
The Puntland Maritime Police Force announced that the liberated vessel remains secure and under state custody, with operations continuing to identify shore-based networks linked to the raid. Puntland’s Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Mohamed Abdulkadir Salah, stated that the operation demonstrated the regional administration`s resolve to enforce law across its territorial waters. The mission follows an intervention last week freeing the tanker Sibu 1, an operation subsequently marred by the escape of 28 detained suspects during prisoner transit.
At least 15 separate maritime security incidents have been logged off the Somali coastline since April. Analysts trace the uptick in attacks partly to shifting international surveillance priorities amid wider geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East. Mohamed Mubarak, head of Puntland’s security coordination office, confirmed that no hijacked ships remain within Puntland`s administrative waters, though the tanker MT Asana remains anchored off the coast of neighbouring Galmudug state following its capture in July.
Between 2008 and 2014, systemic piracy across the Gulf of Aden disrupted crucial global supply routes, costing commercial shipping billions of dollars in losses and ransom payments.
