Somali pirates free 15 more Pinoy seafarers

(Update) MANILA, Philippines - Somali pirates have released a German cargo ship which they seized last April 25 with 15 Filipino seafarers on board, an online report said Tuesday. The National Radio Company of Ukraine website quoted the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s press service on Tuesday as saying the pirates have released the Maltese-flagged MV Patriot, along with its crew including 15 Filipino seafarers. German ship operator Johann M.K. Blumenthal GmbH and Co. KG said in the report that “successful talks" between the owner of the German ship and the pirates led to the release of the vessel and its crew. The Ukrainian report said all the Patriot’s crew members were in “satisfactory health" and the ship was heading for the nearest port in Yemen on Wednesday. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed the report, saying the cargo ship and its crew were released by Somali pirates last May 15. MV Patriot has a crew of 15 Filipinos, 17 Ukrainians, and one Pole. The vessel was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden on April 25. In a statement, the DFA said it is coordinating with the ship’s local manning agency for the repatriation of the 15 Filipino seafarers. The statement said the MV Patriot’s release brought down the number of Filipino seafarers in the custody of pirates to 44 in four separate vessels. The statement did not give details. A tally based on data released by the DFA in previous weeks, however, showed that 39 Filipino seafarers on board two ships remain in the hands of the Somali pirates with the Patriot's release. The two remaining vessels are the WinFar 161, hijacked last April 6 with 17 Filipinos, and MV Irene, hijacked April 15 with 22 Filipinos. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV