UN maritime agency offers post-piracy trauma counseling

MANILA, Philippines - United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos met the other day with some 100 families of hostages of Somalian pirates at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) office in Manila to discuss a post-piracy trauma and treatment program with them.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, who accompanied Mitropoulos, said the treatment, to start soon, would help families and seamen cope with stresses they experienced as a result of hostage taking by pirates that abound off Somalia.

Freed hostages who participate in the anti-stress debriefing program would be able to go back to their normal routines and resume working, Roque said.

Mitropoulos, who is in the Philippines for a maritime conference, expressed the UN’s concern about the problem of piracy in Somalia and informed the families about what UN member-countries have been doing to prevent piracy, protect and rescue seafarers, and defend ships against pirates.

He acknowledged that some 30 percent of the world’s seafarers are Filipinos, and it was only right for the IMO to hold a dialogue with the seafarers’ families and brief them on what the world is doing to protect the shipping industry and its personnel against piracy attacks as well as support extended to seafarers and their families to help them cope with trauma.

He added that countries have sent naval vessels to patrol the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.

Meanwhile, OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon agreed that kidnapped seamen who continue to experience nightmares are in need of post-trauma debriefing.

She said some victims may develop psychological and physical problems that temporarily prevent them from living normal lives.

OWWA conducts stress debriefing and counseling in coordination with seafarers’ manning agencies.

One of the freed hostages who participated in the meeting, Captain Abelardo Pacheco of Sagana Shipping Agency, was recently given the Outstanding Filipino Seafarer Award by the Department of Labor and Employment.

A master mariner, Pacheco displayed bravery by offering his own life for the sake of his crew when they were taken hostage in November 2008.

During their six-month ordeal, Pacheco kept up the morale of his crew and, through his professionalism and strong faith in God, earned the trust and cooperation of the pirates.

He and his crew were released without any injury or loss of life.