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18 Pinoy seamen kidnap by Somali pirates for 71days finally home
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by danesller0127 | January 18, 2009 at 09:28 am
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Eighteen Filipino seamen from the Maltese-flagged MV Centauri who were held captive by Somali pirates in the high seas for 71 days finally came home yesterday afternoon, in time to be with their families for the New Year's Eve celebrations. The sailors were led by their ship's captain, Mario Tanada, when they planed in aboard Malaysian Airlines flight MH704 which arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 1 at 2 p.m. yesterday. All the seafarers appeared in good health...The Philippines has reiterated its call to the international community to help secure the safe and early release of the remaining 91 seafarers still being heldhostage inSomalia. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo called on the international community to crack down onpiracy in the Horn of Africa "We want the six remaining ships to be freed and the remaining 91 Filipino hostages to be returned to us," he said.The 330-meter MV Sirius Star owned by the shipping arm of oil giant Saudi Aramco carried $100 million worth of oil, It was hijacked off the coast of Kenya on November 15.
The capture of the Sirius Star and its $100-million cargo of crude in November drew attention to a surge in piracy off Somalia that has brought global navies rushing to protect one of the world's most important shipping lanes.The piracy in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes has sent shipping insurance prices soaring, made some owners choose to go round South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, and brought an unprecedented deployment of international warships to the region.
The crew of the Sirius are from Britain, Poland, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
The U.S. Navy, which has had a warship close to the Sirius monitoring the saga, could not immediately confirm its release. The U.S. Navy said on Thursday it was planning to launch a force to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden, an offshoot of an earlier mission. Chinese warships also began anti-piracy patrols off Somalia this week.
Spain will send up to 395 military personnel and a patrol plane to the waters off Somalia to defend merchant ships from pirates, the government said. Alarmed by the spate of attacks on ships with Filipinos on board, DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo said the agency might review the contracts of seamen who board vessels that are vulnerable to high sea robberies.(article.wn.com/view/2008/12/29/.../mediumphoto.txt - 241k - Cached)
[q url"http:/www.philstar.com/ArticleId=431119"] MOGADISHU (AP) – The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving a huge ransom washed onshore with $153,000 in cash, a resident said Sunday, as the spokesman for another group of pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship.
Five pirates drowned Friday when their small boat capsized after they received a reported $3 million ransom for releasing a Saudi oil tanker. Local resident Omar Abdi Hassan said one of the bodies had been found on a beach near the coastal town of Haradhere and relatives were searching for the other four.
"One of them was discovered and they are still looking for the other ones. He had $153,000 in a plastic bag in his pocket," he said Sunday.
The US navy released photos of a parachute dropping a package onto the deck of the Sirius Star, and said the package was likely to be the ransom delivery. But five of the dozens of pirates who had hijacked the tanker drowned when their small boat capsized as they returned to shore in rough weather. Three other pirates survived but also lost their share of the ransom.
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These ships include the MT African Sanderling (hijacked Oct. 15), MT Stolt Strength (hijacked Nov. 11), Tianyu No. 8 (hijacked Nov. 14), MV Chemstar Venus (hijacked Nov. 16), and MV Delight (hijacked Nov. 18). Well-funded by ransom willingly paid by ship owners, pirates in the African seas often come with big mother ships, which launch smaller, faster craft to slow down their targets vessels. (source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=431119)
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 11:14 on January 18th, 2009
Hi everyone! Sorry! my layout doesn't look nicer...I tried many times on editing this article, to appear on highlighted box, but didn't make it....I don't know what happen?, maybe i will edit this later... Thanks again! :D
at 08:50 on January 19th, 2009
Good update on Somali Pirates issue and I am glad that 18 Filipino Sailors could finally go home. That was a very long captivity of 71 days.
at 09:22 on January 19th, 2009
It's quite alarming.... Filipino seaferers fall easy prey to pirate attacks...
"Since the year began, more than 60 Filipino seafarers have been abducted in African waters. In the Gulf of Aden alone, a record four ships, carrying a total of 54 Filipino seafarers, were hijacked by pirates in August. But the number of Filipinos being abducted continue to rise. The upsurge of Filipino abduction in high seas is not at all surprising since the global shipping industry’s dependence on Philippine overseas labor makes Filipino seafarers more prone to abduction than any other nationals in the world."
"Eighteen Filipino seamen from the Maltese-flagged MV Centauri who were held captive by Somali pirates in the high seas for 71 days finally came home."
That leaves only 71 Filipino seamen still being held captive by Somali, according to Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., head of the DFA’s migrant workers affairs office... Thanks very much! :D