Tanker with 14 Pinoy seafarers seized

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed last Thursday night that pirates seized a Cyprus-flagged tanker and the vessel’s crew that included 14 Filipinos last Sept. 14 in Lome, Togo in West Africa.

The Norwegian managed M/T Mattheos has a total of 23 seafarers of mixed nationalities on board.

The vessel’s local manning agency has also reported to the DFA that all crewmembers are well and safe and that the families of the Filipino seafarers were already notified.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has instructed the Philippine embassy in Abuja to make representations with the Nigerian authorities for the safe rescue of the Filipino seafarers and the Philippine embassy in Oslo to coordinate with the vessel’s principal in Norway to ensure that negotiations for the release of the Filipinos are being done.

The DFA said it was closely coordinating with the embassies and the local manning agency of the vessel for further developments.

The last incident of kidnapping in West Africa by Nigerian pirates was in July 2011 involving 20 Filipino seafarers of MT Anema E Core who were eventually released after four days in captivity.

Of the 104 Filipinos being held by pirates in West Africa since February 2006, 88 have been released, two are still missing, and 14 are still being held captive.

Some 32 Filipino seafarers on board five vessels have been held captive off the coast of Somalia, as of date.

The Philippine government has undertaken measures to minimize the exposure of Filipino seafarers to pirates, including making arrangement with ship principals and manning agencies for vessels to travel along a safety corridor and adopt best management practices to deter piracy.

The government had raised before the United Nations and other international organizations the issue of maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean.

The Philippines is a member of the intergovernmental Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).

The DFA continues to coordinate with the concerned Philippine embassies, the vessels’ principals and the local manning agencies for the early and safe release of the other Filipino seafarers.