Somali pirates hijack ship with three Filipinos

Somali pirates seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel with three Filipino crew members north of Seychelles, increasing the number of Filipinos and vessels the group has held captive. The Philippine Embassy in Nairobi reported that the Taiwan-registered fishing vessel FV Tai Yuan was hijacked May 13 while at a fishing ground north of Seychelles, a release posted on Monday at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) website said. Apart from the three Filipinos, also onboard the vessel are nine Chinese, Taiwanese, Kenyan, and Mozambique nationals. The DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs is coordinating with the vessel's principal and other concerned agencies for the crew’s release, the statement said. According to the DFA, there are now 63 Filipino seafarers onboard five vessels being held captive by Somali pirates: three onboard the FV Tai Yuan 227, 19 onboard the MV Eleni P, one onboard MV Iceberg 1, 19 onboard the MT Samho Dream and 21 onboard MV Voc Daisy. On May 12, Somali pirates seized Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned MV Eleni P with 19 Filipino crew on board off Oman on its way to India. The next day, three Filipino seafarers on board the chemical tanker MV St. James were released after almost five months in captivity. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV