KARACHI, Sept 1: The federal government has directed its diplomats in the UAE to trace the owners of two missing ships, with seven Pakistani crew members aboard, in Dubai it has been learnt.

According to sources, the government has taken this step after it was approached by the family members of the missing sailors and the Pakistan Seamen’s Union, which fears that the ships, along with the crew, had been taken hostage by pirates that operate freely along the Somali coast.

Both the ships -- MV Infinity Marine I and MV Reef Azania -- had left the UAE ports of Dubai and Ajman for African ports in April/June, but these have not yet reached their destinations and there has been no contact between the crew members and their families.

The sources said that the foreign ministry’s Director-General (Middle East) Ghalib Iqbal has sent a communiqué concerning the whereabouts of the Pakistani seafarers missing at sea whilst onboard the vessels to the Pakistan ambassador in Abu Dhabi to trace the owners.

The letter says that the Panama registered Infinity I with five Pakistani crew members – Farrukh Saeed, Fazl-ur-Rehman, Faizan, Mohammad Hanif and Khan Bahadur Qureshi -- sailed from Ajman on April 14 for Somalia and the last contact between the families and the crew was on June 8. Other crew members included 16 Indians and a Bangladeshi.

The St Vincent registered Reef Azania with two Pakistani crew members – Khalid Siddiqui and Zafar Iqbal – sailed on June 18 from Dubai for the Seychelles. It also had four Indian and eight Tanzanian crew members.

The ambassador had been directed to contact representatives of the ships – Stephen Miller for Infinity I and Capt Anwer for Reef Azania – at Dubai and also to take up the matter with the UAE authorities.

Meanwhile, Capt Ali Asghar of Sea Care (Pvt) Ltd, which had recruited the five sailors for Infinity Marine I, responding to Dawn’s queries said that he was in contact with the ship’s owner Fida Ali, based in Dubai, who feared that the ship had sunk. But the company had approached the coordination centres in Yemen, Oman, Somalia and India and they did not confirm the sinking.

Sea Care had also approached the Oman-based US coordination centre, which had investigated the area on June 29 and 30 and could not find any evidence that the ship had sunk. A UK-based commercial crimes unit working for insurance companies was also investigating the matter.

Capt Asghar said there was a possibility that the ship had been commandeered by pirates who had taken it to some creek where the cargo was being unloaded, after which they might demand a ransom for the hostages.