Somali pirates seize Iran-operated ship, 7 Pinoys onboard
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/20/2008 12:12 PM
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The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Thursday that seven Filipino seafarers were onboard the Hong Kong-flagged, Iran-operated M/V Delight that was seized by Somali pirates last Tuesday.
Executive Director Crescente Relacion of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs said the pirates seized the ship at the Gulf of Aden between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.
“The incident brings to eight the number of vessels with Filipino crewmen and to 134 the number Filipino seamen in Somali pirates’ hands,” Relacion said.
Relacion said the confirmation came from reports relayed to the DFA by the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi.
M/V Delight had on board 25 crew members, including seven Filipino seafarers when the pirates hijacked the vessel.
“All crew members are reported unharmed,” Relacion said in a text message relayed to abs-cbnNEWS.com.
The DFA has instructed the Philippine embassies in Nairobi, Manama and Tehran to coordinate with the ship owners and the international maritime authorities on efforts to secure the safe release of the crew and the vessel.
Since the start of the year there have been 17 vessels with 201 Filipino seamen seized by pirates off Somalia but 10 of the vessels and 74 Filipinos have been released, said Relacion.
He said about a third or 350,000 of the world's merchant seamen come from the Philippines.
'Sirius' owners negotiate with pirates
Owners of a hijacked Saudi supertanker with a $100 million oil cargo are in negotiations with Somali pirates over a possible ransom payment for the release of the ship, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Wednesday.
"I know that the owners of the tanker, they are negotiating on the issue. We do not like to negotiate with either terrorists or hijackers. But the owners of the tanker, they are the final arbiters of what happens there. What we know is that we are going to join the task force that will try and eradicate this threat to international trade," said Prince Saud al-Faisal at a news conference in Rome.
where he has been meeting the Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini. Increasingly brazen pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean waters off Somalia has driven up insurance costs, forced some ships to go round South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, and secured millions of dollars in ransoms.
The seizure of recent ships have been carried out despite an international naval response, including from the NATO alliance and European Union, to protect one of the world's busiest shipping routes.
The US navy said pirates had transported the Saudi ship Sirius Star -- seized 450 nautical miles southeast off Kenya at the weekend in the boldest strike to date by Somali pirates -- to Haradheere port half-way up Somalia's long coastline.
Vela, the shipping arm of Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil company, said the 25 crew members were believed to be safe -- they are from Croatia, Britain, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia -- and their safety was the top priority.
Eight suspected Somali pirates were facing court in the Kenyan town of Mombasa on Wednesday. All pleaded not guilty to a charge sheet that accused them of attacking a detaining a sailing vessel called 'Waadi Omar 2' on November 8 and 9th.
The suspects were remanded in Shimo la Tewa prison, and will be back in court on November 24. They had been handed over to Kenyan police on Tuesday by the British Navy.
The pirates were apprehended by crew members on the HMS Cumberland a week earlier (November 11) after a gunfight which left two pirates dead. Their firearms - seven AK-47's, pistols and missile launchers were also captured. With Reuters
