Somali pirates have released 17 Filipino seafarers on board a Greek-owned bulk carrier MV Titan hijacked last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced Friday.

The DFA said the hijacked bulk carrier was released with the Filipino crew Wednesday.

Esteban Conejos, Undersecretary for Migrants Workers Affairs, said the release brought down the number of Filipinos being held by Somali pirates to 105, involving seven vessels.

Conejos, meanwhile, reiterated that the Philippine government does not negotiate with pirates. He said the government maintains its no ransom policy in dealing with the pirates.

“We coordinate the actions of foreign governments, the local manning agencies in the Philippines and the latter's foreign principals in our collective efforts towards the early and safe release of the Filipino crew," he said.

Conejos said a total of 227 Filipino seafarers have been released and repatriated since 2006.

Preventive actions

The DFA said that the government has started taking steps to prevent the increasing number of piracy incidents involving Filipino seafarers in the Gulf of Aden.

Among the measures were the travel ban to Somalia and the directives issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to manning agencies of ships plying the Gulf of Aden.

The DOLE directives were: to follow the guidance of the International Maritime Bureau to stay clear by at least 200 nautical miles off the 3,300-kilometer coastline of Somalia and for all commercial ships to stay within the designated coordinates of the Maritime Security Patrol Area being patrolled by the naval and air assets of the Combined Task Force 150.

Conejos said the DFA has also asked the Philippine Navy and the Philippine defense department to assign a naval liaison officer to the Combined Maritime Forces in Manama, Bahrain.