Two more vessels with 22 Filipino seafarers on board were released by Somali pirates last Saturday, May 9, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.
 
The 32,000-ton Malaspina Castle, with 24 seafarers on board, was freed by hijackers.  Four of the vessel’s crew are Filipinos.
 
The Italian-operated vessel was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden last April 6. 
 
The Greek-owned Nipayia, hijacked last March 25, was also freed by its captors on the same day.  It has 18 Filipino seafarers. 
 
All Filipino crew of the freed vessels are well and in good condition.

The DFA is still awaiting details of the repatriation of the Filipino crew of the two vessels.  Filipino seafarers on board three other hijacked vessels namely, MV Saldanha, Philippine-flagged MT Stolt Strength, and M/V Titan have arrived in Manila.
 
The release of MV Malaspina Castle and MT Nipayia further reduces the number of Filipino seafarers in the custody of pirates to 59. 

The International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center earlier said pirate attacks off Somalia jumped tenfold in the first three months of 2009 compared to last year.

Worldwide, incidents of high-seas piracy almost doubled in the first quarter of 2009, from 53 to 102.

"The increase in the first quarter of 2009 is due almost entirely to increased Somali pirate activity off the Gulf of Aden and east coast of Somalia," it said, adding that attacks there rose from six to 61.

The Kuala Lumpur-based center said that worldwide, a total of 34 vessels were boarded, 29 vessels fired upon and nine vessels hijacked during the three months.

A total of 178 crew were taken hostage, two were killed, nine were injured, and five kidnapped.

"In the majority of incidents, the attackers were heavily armed with guns or knives. Violence against crew members continues to increase," it said.

The piracy watchdog commended the role of the foreign navies who have been patrolling the lawless region, and thwarting many attacks.

"The navies have played a key role in controlling piracy in the Gulf of Aden. It is vital that these naval operations continue," IMB director Pottengal Mukundan said in a statement.

Some two dozen international ships -- operating under United States, European Union and NATO commands -- patrol the seas off Somalia where pirate attacks soared 200 percent last year from 2007.

US President Barack Obama's administration has pledged to step up the piracy fight following the capture of a US cargo ship in April.  With Agence France-Presse