Chinese frigate escorts stranded RP tanker off Somalia

MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese navy frigate escorted a Philippine-flagged chemical tanker to safe waters after its release by Somali pirates last week.

A Chinese embassy statement said the missile frigate Huangshan also provided the crew of the 32,400-ton MT Stolt Strength with food and medical supplies.

The escort mission was made upon request of the Philippine government, according to the statement.

Pirates released the Philippine vessel and its 23 Filipino crew on April 20 or five months after it was seized off Somalia.

The Chinese warship found the chemical tanker drifting without fuel in the waters near Hobiya in Somalia.

The ship was low on food and medical supplies.

“On April 25, upon the request of the Philippine government, the missile frigate Huangshan, one of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels on escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, arrived in the waters near Hobiya where it joined Stolt Strength. The tanker was released on April 20 after being seized by pirates for five months,” the press statement read.  

China said it began on Dec. 26 last year its deployment of naval vessels for escort missions to the Gulf of Aden in accordance with resolutions of the UN Security Council.

“They have been protecting the vessels and crews of China and international organizations passing through the pirate-infested waters,” the embassy statement said.

Greater cooperation

The Philippines, meanwhile, has called for greater international cooperation in addressing the piracy problem in Somalia and in assisting sailors victimized by Somali pirates.

The appeal was made by the Philippine delegation before the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families in Geneva over the weekend. But the appeal fell short of pushing for rescue operations for the captive seamen, most of whom are Filipinos.

“The Philippines urges the global community and relevant international bodies to intensify efforts to assist seamen from all nations whose human rights have suffered as a result of piracy in lawless waters off Somalia,” Ambassador Erlinda Basilio, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva said.

She said 105 Filipino seamen still remain in the hands of pirates.

“The Philippines supports efforts led by the United Nations and concerned countries, regional and international organizations, to assist in the stabilization of Somalia in partnership with the government of Somalia to make concrete progress in finding a long-term solution to this international crisis,” she said.

She said her call was in accordance with the policy of the Department of Foreign Affairs led by Secretary Alberto Romulo “to mobilize greater endeavors involving all international forums.”

Undersecretary Severo Catura, executive director of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights and a member of the delegation said the Philippines has completed the review of its compliance with the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families or ICRMW. - With Paolo Romero and Jose Rodel Clapano