Freed Pinoy sailors in Somalia due Tuesday, says DFA
After enduring 31 days in captivity, freed Filipino crew members of a cargo ship hijacked by pirates off Somalia coast are flying back to the Philippines Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.
DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal told abs-cbnNEWS.com in a text message that the five Filipino seamen will arrive in Manila Tuesday afternoon via Gulf Air flight GF 156.
The seamen were identified as wiper Frederick Reyes, 33, of Pangasinan; able seamen Gino Titus Dario, 45, of Quezon City and Teotimo Trovela, 45, of Iloilo; ordinary seaman Mark John Manuel, 27, of Bataan; and cook Chivas Regal Collado, 30, of Makati City.
Pirates seized control of MV Amiya Scan, which was carrying a disassembled oil platform, in the Gulf of Aden late last month.
The ship — which had set off from the Kenyan port of Mombasa on May 19 for Constata in Romania — was in pirate hands for 31 days before its release last week.
The ship owner refused to say whether any ransom had been paid, stating that details of “dialogue with the hijackers… could, we believe, encourage would-be pirates.”
Somalia’s waters are among the most pirate-infested in the world. Nations worldwide have issued warnings against sailing too close to its shore.
More than 25 ships came under attack from pirates off Somalia last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
On June 2, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing foreign warships to enter Somalia’s territorial waters, with the Somali government’s consent, to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea. With a report from Agence France Presse
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