Kolkata seafarer held hostage by Somali pirates for over a month; family pleads for help

More than a month after an oil tanker was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast, a 36-year-old Kolkata resident remains trapped aboard the vessel, leaving his family in Ekbalpore caught in a cycle of fear, uncertainty and helplessness.

Tanviruzzaman, a chef working on the oil tanker Honour 25, has been held captive since armed pirates seized the vessel on April 22 while it was sailing near Somalia.

The ship, carrying 18,500 barrels of oil and headed to Mogadishu, was overrun by six gunmen and remains anchored off the Somali shoreline.

Back home in Kolkata, Tanviruzzaman's wife Mehraj Khatoon waits anxiously for every phone call, hoping for news that could bring her husband closer to freedom.

The pirates have reportedly allowed the sailor to speak with his family only three times since the hijacking. While the calls confirmed he was alive, they also revealed the grim conditions aboard the tanker.

"My husband told me food, drinking water and medical supplies are running low. The pirates are demanding ransom from the company," Khatoon said.

With little information available, the family says it has been left in the dark about efforts to secure the crew's release.

"The company only told us that negotiations are continuing. We don't know anything else. We don't even know whom to approach for help," she said.

For Tanviruzzaman's family, the ordeal has turned into an agonising wait. Having worked as a seafarer since 2021, he followed in the footsteps of his father, Nuruzzaman, who also spent years at sea.

Family members say he chose the profession in search of a better future. Last year, he married Khatoon before embarking on what was expected to be another routine voyage.

Instead, the newlywed couple now finds themselves separated by a hostage crisis unfolding thousands of kilometres away.

The Honour 25 has a multinational crew comprising 10 Pakistani nationals, four Indonesians, one Indian, one Sri Lankan and one crew member from Myanmar.

No injuries have been reported so far, but the prolonged captivity and dwindling supplies have heightened concerns for the sailors' safety.

At their home in Ekbalpore, every day begins and ends with hope for another phone call and a breakthrough in the negotiations.

"We are worried all the time," Khatoon said. "We just want him to come back home safely."