IMO Calls for Release of Three Ships Hijacked by Somali Pirates

The IMO is growing increasingly concerned over the fate of dozens of seafarers who are currently being held for ransom by Somali pirates - including crewmembers who are suffering significant health setbacks.

The IMO’s regional piracy initiative - formally known as the Djibouti Code of Conduct/Jeddah Amendment (DCoC/JA) - has received word from the master of the hijacked tanker Honour 25 (IMO 9109735), which was boarded and seized on April 24. All of the 17 crewmembers on board are still alive, the master reports, but conditions are difficult. Five (including the master) have health problems, and the crew are surviving on rice. They are out of safe drinking water, posing further risks to their health. Worse still, the local pirate rivalries on the Somali coast pose a new and unexpected risk to their well-being: a competing pirate action group attempted to approach the already-captured vessel, prompting the pirates aboard Honour 25 to open fire to drive them off - and potentially putting the crew at risk of violence.

"Behind every piracy incident are innocent seafarers enduring fear, deprivation, uncertainty and prolonged psychological trauma," the committee wrote in a statement.

The crew of the Honour 25 includes Indonesian, Pakistani, Indian and Burmese nationals, and the Indonesian government has negotiated directly with the Somali hijackers in an attempt to secure the ship's release. Indonesian foreign minister Sugiono (his full name) confirmed that talks with the pirate action group were ongoing back in May - without successful results.

The crewmembers of two additional vessels - Sward (IMO 9174244) and MV Eureka (IMO 1022823) - are still being held as well, and pirate-like actions off the southern coast of Yemen suggest that would-be hijackers are still actively operating in the area, hoping to capture even more ships and seafarers. The committee called for all parties with influence over the outcome - including the owners, insurers, flags and the coastal state - to take action to bring the hijackings to a swift conclusion.

The resurgence of piracy in the region could have many reasons, analysts suggest. Anti-piracy patrol efforts were redirected to cover the Red Sea during the Houthi maritime security crisis, leaving a gap in the Gulf of Aden that opportunistic actors could exploit. The fuel aboard product tankers like Honour 25 is (or was) more valuable during the surge in pricing caused by the U.S.-Iran conflict, making this vessel class in particular an attractive target.