Nine Filipino seafarers on board a vessel hijacked by Somali pirates have been freed, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed Friday.

 

The Filipino seamen have been identified as Chief Officer Antonio Calubiran, 43, of Antique; 4th Engineer Mark Anthony Abalos, 32, of Rizal; Oiler Honorato Sotaridona, 48, of Pasig City; Ryan Abarientos, wiper, 26, of Cebu City; Able Seaman Jesus Cubil, 36, of Cebu City; Ordinary Seamen Elmer Langaman, 29, of Pangasinan; Arturo Nicolas, 43, of Makati City; Rodrigo Recto, 33, of Manila; and Arnold Asuncion, cook, 30, of Bulacan. 

 

In a text message, DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal said the nine Filipino seamen were among the 13 crew of the MT BBC Trinidad, the German-owned Antigua-flagged container vessel hijacked by Somali pirates last August 21.

 

Aside from the Filipinos, the crew was composed by a Slovenian and Russian nationals.

 

The pirates released the vessel and its crew around 6 p.m. (Manila Time) Thursday.

 

The crewmen were reported to be physically unharmed.

 

Cristobal added that the DFA is now coordinating with shipping company and manning agency on the repatriation of the sailors, possibly via Oman. 

 

Meanwhile, Agence France Presse reported that pirates also released a Japanese tanker which was seized last month.

 

Citing the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, it was reported that Japanese MT Irene seized the same day as the BBC Trinidad had been release by the pirates.

 

"As of now, we have confirmed that the two ships have been released by the pirates," Andrew Mwangura told AFP from the port town of Mombasa.

 

Reports stated that BBC Trinidad was held in the northeastern Somali fishing village of Eyl. 

 

"We have got information that 1.1 million dollars was paid for the release of the German ship," Mwangura said in the report.

 

AFP further quoted Mwangura as saying that the MT Irene, which had 16 Filipinos and three Croatians, was freed from the same village a day after a group of Japanese arrived in Nairobi to boost efforts to release the tanker.

 

"We have reports that they brought ransom and were coordinating its payment," he added.

 

However, the information that a ransom of 1.5 million dollars was paid for the Japanese vessel could not immediately confirmed.

 

Somali officials and several maritime organizations said Somali pirates are currently holding several foreign ships hostage off the coast of the troubled Horn of Africa country.

 

AFP further reported that maritime experts say many attacks go unreported along Somalia's 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) of largely unpatrolled coastline infested by pirates, who operate high-powered speedboats and carry heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

 

The spate of hijacking incidents have prompted the United Nations Security Council in June to unanimously adopt a resolution authorizing foreign warships to enter Somalia’s territorial waters with the government’s consent to combat pirates and armed robbery at sea. However, the resolution has yet to be enforced. With a report from Agence France Presse