DFA confirms 18 RP seamen kidnapped, 108 Pinoys now held by pirates

MANILA, Philippines - The number of Filipino seafarers kidnapped by pirates in the Horn of Africa has climbed to 108 as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Tuesday that 18 Filipino seafarers are on board the Japanese-owned freighter that was hijacked last November 16. DFA Executive Director Crescente Relacion of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs, relayed the information to reporters on Tuesday after citing reports from the Philippine embassies in Nairobi in Kenya and Tokyo in Japan. DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal said 23 crew members, including the Filipinos, of the hijacked MV Chemstar Venus are "reported unharmed." Cristobal also said that they have instructed the two Philippine embassies to coordinate with the shipowners to facilitate the release of the seafarers from "suspected" Somali pirates. An earlier Associated Press (AP) report said the crew of the MV Chemstar Venus, which was then sailing across the Gulf of Aden, consisted of five South Koreans and 18 Filipinos. The 20,000-ton-class ship was seized by gunmen Saturday evening in waters 96 miles east of Somalia's port city of Aden. Malacañang on Sunday said the government will do all it can to secure the release of 18 Filipino seamen who were seized by pirates off Somalia. “The Palace has been continuously calling for increased security in these dangerous waters, areas which have been declared risk zones," Undersecretary Lorelei Fajardo said in a statement. No confirmation yet on latest Filseamen abduction Meanwhile, the DFA has yet to verify reports that a hijacked Saudi-owned oil supertanker loaded with crude and carrying 25 crew members, had Filipino seafarers on board when it was taken over by Somali pirates on Saturday. According to the AP report, the ship was sailing under a Liberian flag and had a 25-member crew that includes citizens of Croatia, Britain, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia. Sea pirates usually target vessels that have low-lying decks like freighters and chemical tankers. However, Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the US Navy's 5th Fleet told the AP that Somali pirates have expanded their ability to attack so far out at sea and are "certainly a threat to many more vessels." Two Pinoys released On Monday, the DFA confirmed the release of Filipino seamen 1/E Israel Lumpas, 28, of Tacloban City and 3/E Ernesto Cuartero, 58, of Las Piñas City; 62 days after they were held captive by Somali pirates inside the M/T Stolt Valor. Reports said a total of 74 Filipino seafarers had been released by Somali pirates since June this year. Shipowners allegedly paid a hefty ransom in exchange for the release of the ship, its cargo as well as the crew members. Filipino seafarers who have been recently released had told GMANews.TV that their Somali captors had locked them up inside the hijacked vessels and were not fed well. Somali pirates often loot the seafarers' belongings but take no interest in the ship's cargo. Engineer Nelson Ramirez, president of the Manila-based United Filipino Seafarer's group, earlier said the sea bandits profit from the million-dollar ransom money paid by the ship owners. With no functioning government since 1991, piracy has become a lucrative industry in Somalia. The poverty-ridden African nation is located along the Gulf of Aden, which is one of the world's busiest waterways with some 20,000 ships passing through it each year. The Philippines supplies one-third of all the seafarers in the world, making them at high risk to pirate abductions in high seas. Recently, the Philippine government implemented a double hazard pay scheme for those Filipino seamen who will be sailing through the Gulf of Aden after it was declared by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) as a “risk zone." Filipino seamen were also given the option of whether or not to continue with their respective ship’s voyage or to disembark in a safe port if the vessel will pass through the Gulf of Aden, but they still choose to sail through the dangerous waters of Somalia despite these measures. - GMANews.TV