Somali pirates release 21 Filipino crewmen

by Sanjay Jha | January 13, 2009 at 03:49 am

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Twenty-one Filipino seafarers aboard a Japanese owned carrier were released by suspected Somali pirates, The release of the 21 came two days after seven other Filipino sailors were freed.

M/V African Sanderling, which was hijacked October 16 last year, was released after the release of Saudi supertanker M/T Sirius Star Friday and of M/V Delight Saturday.

The ship was headed to Oman where the crew was to be debriefed before flying home, said De Castro, the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers. "Everybody is safe," he added, citing a report by the company that hired the sailors.

The Panamanian-flagged and South Korean-owned ship was seized while en route to Asia from the Middle East.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said the government was not directly involved in negotiations and has a no-ransom policy.

The latest release brought to 44 the number of Filipino sailors on three ships still held by pirates, Conejos said. The Philippines supplies about a third of the world's sailors.

Pirates last year attacked 111 ships and seized 42 off the Horn of Africa. An international flotilla including US warships has stopped many attacks, but the area is too vast to keep all ships safe.

Their biggest prize yet, a Saudi oil tanker, was released last week. Five of the dozens of pirates who had hijacked the tanker drowned Friday when their small boat capsized as they returned to shore in rough weather.

The US Navy released photos of a parachute dropping a package onto the deck of the Sirius Star, and said the package was likely the ransom delivery.

The tanker had a crew of 25, 19 of them Filipinos. Another ship, the Iranian-chartered MV Delight, also was released Friday with a crew of 25, including seven Filipinos, Iranian television reported last week.