Somali Pirates Murder Five Crew Members on Hijacked Tanker Before Security Forces Secure Vessel

Families of the Pakistani hostage crew members of the oil tanker Honour 25, which was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, hold placards during a protest calling on the government to take immediate action for the safe return of their loved ones, in Karachi, Pakistan, May 13, 2026.

Pirates have killed five crew members on board a Palau-flagged oil tanker off the coast of Somalia before security forces successfully rescued the ship, according to Somali authorities. The tragic deaths on the tanker, known as the MT Honour 25, were officially announced on Tuesday.

These fatalities appear to be the first murders committed by Somali pirates in over a decade. Experts attribute this alarming resurgence of Somali piracy partly to the ongoing effects of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

The MT Honour 25 was carrying 18,500 barrels of oil when it was originally seized by pirates off Somalia on April 21. The Information Ministry of Puntland, a semiautonomous region of Somalia, released a statement confirming that a rescue mission had successfully freed the ship and captured 16 suspected pirates.

"Before the operation began, the pirates on board the ship killed five of the crew," the statement reported. "Among those killed were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India." Additionally, four other crew members—three Pakistanis and one Indian—sustained injuries during the ordeal.

In a social media update, the Puntland Maritime Police Force stated that the vessel was now "safe" and firmly under government control. Authorities added that active efforts are continuing to track down other individuals involved in the hijacking.

This rescue follows another recent operation last week where maritime police freed the Sibu 1, a US-sanctioned tanker that had been hijacked by Somali pirates in August. However, complications arose when 28 of the 41 pirates arrested in that operation subsequently escaped during their transfer to jail, leading several Puntland security officials to accuse local police of complicity.

Official records indicate that at least 15 attacks have been reported off the coast of Somalia since April. A previous destructive wave of piracy between 2008 and 2014 severely disrupted one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, cost the global economy billions of dollars, and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments.