Report: Pirates release Italian tanker with 20 Pinoy seamen

An Italian-owned tanker with 20 Filipino seafarers on board was released from captivity by pirates, a news site reported Friday. RBD Anema e Core was hijacked last Sunday in the Gulf of Guinea, where most Somali pirates usually stage their piracy attacks. Italian news site ANSA quoted sources from port authorities as saying that the pirates already abandoned the vessel. RBD Anema e Core is now “sailing in safe waters to a safe location," the report said, adding that the crew are in good health. Last weekend, reports said pirates seized the ship whose crew included 20 Filipino seafarers, two Italians, and a Romanian captain. Earlier reports said the ship was carrying fuel at the time the pirates captured it. According to Reuters data, over 50 Filipinos are still being held captive by Somali pirates. However, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs had said around 78 Filipino seafarers are with the pirates. Philippine government data shows that there are around 300,000 Filipino seafarers, comprising around 30 percent of an estimated 1.2 million seafarers worldwide. Hijacking incidents on Somalian waters have been a threat to international shipping since Somalia entered into civil war in 1991. Poverty has become widespread since. In 2008, the World Bank reported as much as 73 percent of the population in Somalia lived on a daily income below $2. Likewise, the United Nations has suggested that unabated illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters by foreign vessels has driven Somali fishermen — severely constrained to earn a living — to turn to piracy instead. Some pirates have claimed that they have dealt such illegal activity to protect their waters, following the absence of an effective national coastguard. — JE, GMA News