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Pinoy Abroad

Pirates free two Pinoy seafarers after 11 months


The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said two Filipino sailors of "MV Blida" were freed by Somali pirates last week after 11 months in captivity. According to the DFA, MV Blida's local manning agency confirmed that ship's crew were released on November 3. DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said the two Filipinos and the ship's other crewmembers would undergo medical check-up before being repatriated to their respective countries. The Algerian-flagged and Greek-owned vessel was hijacked by Somali pirates approximately 150 nautical miles off the port of Salalah, Oman on January 1 this year. The total number of seamen from the Philippines being held in Somalia has now gone down to 41. Somali pirates are holding on to four more vessels with Filipino crewmen, waiting for ship owners give in to their ransom demand. Somali authorities have been having a difficulty controlling militants and other lawless armed groups who have been engaging in piracy and ransom kidnappings as there is no existing central government in the African state. The United Nations withdrew in Somalia in March 1995 without restoring a functioning government. The attacks on Filipino sailors by pirates in the Somali waters, especially in the Gulf of Aden, have long been a problem of the Philippine government. As a policy, the Philippine government does not negotiate nor pay ransom to kidnappers. However, the Philippine government gives ship owners the free hand in negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino sailors. The Philippines is the world’s leading supplier of ship crew with over 350,000 sailors, or about a fifth of the world’s seafarers. Filipino sailors man oil tankers, luxury liners, and passenger vessels worldwide, exposing them to piracy attacks. - VVP, GMA News

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