MOGADISHU — Negotiations aimed at securing the release of eight Egyptian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates have collapsed after the kidnappers withdrew from a preliminary agreement and demanded additional ransom payments, officials said.
El-Sayed El-Shazly, head of Egypt’s Maritime Officers Association, told local media that talks had stalled after the pirates sought more money than had been agreed during earlier negotiations.
The sailors were aboard the oil tanker M/T Eureka, which was hijacked on May 2 while sailing from the UAE port of Fujairah to Yemen. The vessel was reportedly seized by armed pirates and is currently being held near Somalia’s Puntland coast.
According to officials monitoring the case, negotiators had reached a preliminary agreement involving a $2 million ransom payment. However, the pirates later backed out of the deal and demanded additional funds, causing the negotiations to break down.
Relatives of the hostages expressed growing concern over the setback, saying hopes for the crew’s imminent release had been dashed. Ahmed Shaaban, the brother of the vessel’s captain, said the situation had effectively returned to where it began.
Despite the collapse of the talks, Egypt’s Maritime Officers Association said all eight sailors remain alive. Some members of the crew have reportedly managed to make brief contact with their families.
On May 18, the pirates released a video showing the sailors blindfolded and with their hands bound while warning shots were fired nearby, a recording that heightened fears among their relatives.
The 88-meter tanker, sailing under the Togolese flag and owned by a company based in the United Arab Emirates, was reportedly seized in waters off Yemen before being diverted toward the Somali coast.
The incident comes amid a resurgence of piracy off Somalia since late 2023. Security analysts have linked the increase in attacks to a reduced international naval presence in the region, as some maritime forces were redeployed to address security threats in the Red Sea.
In April, another tanker, Honor 25, was attacked in the same area, underscoring growing concerns over the safety of commercial shipping routes in waters surrounding the Horn of Africa.
