Report: 2 Pinoy seafarers released by pirates finally going home

More than a week after their vessel was released by pirates, the crew of an Algerian-owned ship - two of them Filipinos - may finally be on their way home, a Somalia news site reported Sunday. The Somalia Report said diplomatic officials from the Philippines and other countries boarded the MV Blida after it anchored Saturday afternoon off Kenya. "The crew members of the vessel, who appeared healthy but exhausted, could not hold back their tears as they briefly talked about their 330 days as hostages," the report said. "Life in captivity at the hands of pirates was hell and hopeless. This is last batch of Ukrainian hostages in Somalia," the Ukrainian master of the vessel said. Somalia Report quoted an Algerian diplomatic official as saying some of the crew members will be flying back home Sunday evening while the last batch will fly back home on Monday morning. Pirates hijacked the MV Blida January 1, 2011 some 130 nautical miles South East of Salalah, Oman as she made her way to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Algerian-flagged and owned bulk carrier was carrying a cargo of clinker at the time it was hijacked. Its crew included 17 Algerians, six Ukrainians, two Filipinos, one Jordanian and one Indonesian. Pirates released the ship after its owner paid $3.5 million ransom, Somalia Report said. It said, diplomatic officials from the Philippines and Indonesian embassies, the Ukrainian and Algerian ambassadors, 13 new Ukrainian crew members, and representatives of the ship owner and the local agent boarded the vessel to meet the crew members. It added Kenyan officials who also boarded the vessel included the Kenya Maritime Authority, Kenya Marine Police Unit, and Department of Immigration. Pirates released the MV Blida earlier this month after nearly a year. The vessel anchored off the coastal town of Malindi some 100km north of Mombasa, Kenya. MV Blida had developed mechanical problems and lost contact while underway some 55 nautical miles north of Mombasa and started drifting heading towards Malindi, Friday around midnight. The Algerian diplomatic official said 13 new Ukrainian crew members were flown to Mombasa by a special direct flight from Algeria. He said they will replace the existing crew, repair the vessel and sail it to Mombassa, Kenya or Dar es Salaam, Tanzania once she is seaworthy. — LBG, GMA News