Filtered By: Topstories
News

Somali pirates greedy but won't sink ships - seafarer's group


Pirates guard the crew of the Chinese fishing vessel FV Tianyu 8 as it sails through the Indian Ocean on Nov. 13. Three Filipino seafarers are on board the ship. US Navy
MANILA, Philippines - Somali pirates holding scores of Filipino hostages in the Horn of Africa may be greedy and armed but they are not likely to sink a ship, said the leader of a Manila-based seafarer’s group on Friday. United Filipino Seafarers (UFS) president Nelson Ramirez told GMANews.TV that it is not in the nature of the pirates to harm either the vessel or ship’s crew. GMA News received a letter from 18 Filipinos seafarers on board the hijacked MV Chemstar Venus which said the pirates threatened to sink the ship unless its owners pay the ransom. “They can’t do it. They just want terror but they don’t want to hurt anyone," Ramirez said. In a statement dated February 3, the Filipino seamen asked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, top government officials and chiefs of government agencies taking care of overseas Filipino workers to intervene as the five-day ultimatum given by the hijackers is about to end. The statement did not state when the five-day deadline would end, but it said the abductors would either sink or push the ship aground should the owner fail to pay. “Few weeks ago, we lost one of our anchors. Now… we keep on transferring from place to place for our safety, as we can’t stay on one area because of the civil war in Somalia and we are scared another group of Somalis would attack us," the statement said. It added that once the ship’s fuel runs out, communication would be cut off and the crew could no longer produce fresh water and cook their food. Signing the statement were Orlando Chaves Jr., Edwin Oliveros, Reynaldo Teves, Ariel Gamao, Leonardo Robles Jr., Nolito Sendin, Dioneil Sarabia, Elson Malilay, Canilo Carao, Ronald Bustillo, Joelito Tenio, Jorge Carpentero, Harry Taplac, Andrew Geduspan, Joel Abellanosa, Roger Arroyo, Raul Carmona Jr., and Jonathan Salgado. The seafarers slammed the Pobar Marine Services, Inc. (the manning agency that sent the Filipinos) and the Japanese owner of the ship for failing on their promise to pay the ransom demanded by the captors. Bargaining tactic But Ramirez maintained that these are merely “threats" of the pirates to get the ransom they have been clamoring for since the vessel was hijacked last November 16. “For them it’s just a job, nothing personal," he said. Some ship owners, who are often forced to shell out millions of dollars in ransom, have initiated steps to curb the expensive hijackings of their ships. For ship owner Fujio Sekiguchi, president of Koyo Kaiun, which owns the recently released tanker MT Irene that had 15 Filipino crew members, the dilemma could be avoided by just letting his ships sail through the southern tip of Africa. He said the route may be longer but passing through the Gulf of Aden could be more expensive if pirates seize his ships. Experts say the much longer journey adds 12 to 15 days to a tanker's trip at a cost of between $20,000-$30,000 a day. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV
LOADING CONTENT