Report: Pirates free Italian vessel with 15 Pinoy seafarers

After more than seven months, an Italian cargo ship with 15 Filipino crewmembers that Somali pirates seized last April was finally freed over the weekend.

 

Maritime site OceanUSLive.org cited sources close to the owner of the "Rosalia D'Amato" saying the vessel was freed after everything was "resolved."

 

The OceanUSLive.org report also said the vessel is en route to Oman.

 

Its 21-member crew includes six Italians and 15 Filipinos. The report said the crew's state of health could not be immediately determined.

 

"During captivity, five of the crew were reported to be suffering from high blood pressure and the shipowner struggled to get medication to them," it said.

 

On the other hand, it said there was no information received regarding the payment of any ransom.

 

Somali pirates boarded the Rosalia D'Amato last April 21 in the Indian Ocean, while the ship was headed to the port of Bandar Imam Khomeini in Iran from Brazil, with a cargo of soya. — LBG, GMA News