80 Pinoy seafarers being held by Somali pirates

MANILA, Philippines – Pirates off the coast of Somalia are now holding a total of 80 Filipino seamen as hostages, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal said the number of seamen taken hostage by the pirates rose to 80 with the hijacking on Wednesday of a Greek-owned tanker with 26 Filipino crew members off Mogadishu.

Another tanker was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden last Sunday with two Filipino crew members on board.

One the 80 Filipino seamen died in an accident when pirates seized the Malaysian-owned tanker MT Bunga Melati Dua on Aug. 19, the DFA said.

DFA Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said all the 26 Filipino crew members of the Greek tanker were unharmed.

This developed as nine Filipino crew members of a German-owned ship who were held captive last month and later freed by Somali pirates came home yesterday.

Vice President Noli de Castro, presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers, and Conejos led a party in welcoming the seamen as they arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from Somalia via Bahrain.

The nine Filipino seafarers were identified as Antonio Calubiran, Jesus Cubil, Rodrigo Recto, Arturo Nicolas, Honorato Satoridona, Mark Anthony Abalos, Ryan Abarientos, Elmer Langaman and Arnold Asuncion.

The nine seamen were on board the German-owned container vessel MT BBC Trinidad, one of two ships that were seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia near the Gulf of Aden on Aug. 21.

They were freed last Wednesday, along with four other foreign nationals with their ship reportedly after the ship owner paid ransom.

“The government is doing the best effort to avoid the situation and prevent our Filipino seamen from being kidnapped,” De Castro said.

According to De Castro, there are 180,000 Filipino seafarers worldwide and around 130 Filipino seafarers had been kidnapped by pirates since March 8.

Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau said a multinational naval force patrolling the Gulf of Aden has been informed of the attacks, and ships have been warned to stay clear of Somalia’s coast.

The latest incidents bring the number of ships hijacked in the notorious African waters to 14 in the past two months.

The DFA, for its part, tasked the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi and the Consulate General in Hong Kong to coordinate efforts to secure the safe release of the crew with ship owners and international maritime authorities.

The DFA has recommended a deployment ban of Filipino workers in Somalia since last month following the spate of pirate attacks. – With Rudy Santos, AP