Pinoy seamen biggest beneficiaries of Japanese anti-piracy escorts

At least 1,370 Filipino seafarers have benefited from two months of anti-piracy escort operations by Japan's Self-Defense Force in the Gulf of Aden, the Japanese Embassy said Thursday. In a press statement, the embassy said that since the escorts started July 28, the JSDF has escorted 81 vessels with various national flags to protect them from pirates. Japan was among the countries that sent a naval patrol to the Gulf of Aden in response to the wanton hijacking of merchant vessels by Somali pirates since last year. Naval vessels of the United States, Russia, Germany and India are also patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the nearby portion of the Indian Ocean. According to the Japanese Embassy, Japan's Maritime Bureau under MLIT is receiving applications from various maritime-related organizations/officers such as ship operators, ship owners/managers, etc. from around the world for escort assistance and safe passage of ships. Filipinos made up the biggest number of seafarers protected by the escort services at 1,370. Of these, 722 served on Japan-affiliated vessels and 648 were on other vessels. Second in terms of number of seafarers were Chinese (536). Next were seafarers from India (434), Korea (191), Ukraine (178), Russia (114), Myanmar (90), Bangladesh (80), Vietnam (74), and Turkey (65). Only 45 Japanese sailors were protected in the escort service. Japan said that from Aug. 1 to 31, P-3C patrol aircraft conducted 22 flights totaling 170 hours, visually confirming 1,500 vessels and provided information to Japanese destroyers, foreign warships and commercial vessels. From July 28 to September 30, JSDF conducted 23 escort operations on 150 vessels - an average of 6.5 vessels per escort operation. The vessels escorted included 79 tankers, 44 general cargo ships, 11 special cargo ships, six car carriers, three LPG carriers, and one LNG carrier. Operators of the vessels included Japan, China, Denmark, Germany, Korea, Singapore, India, UAE, Norway, US, Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, Canada, Monaco, Ireland, Panama, Vietnam, Switzerland, and UK. At least 69 of the vessels were Panama-flagged, while 23 were China-flagged. At least 12 bore the flag of Marshall, while 11 were Liberian-flagged. - GMANews.TV