File photo of Somali pirates about to hijack a ship. Courtesy of trekearth.com

By Atty. George Eduvala, Labor Attache

Hijacking of ships by Somali pirates had worsened in the last months of last year, and the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Athens in all cases involving Filipino seamen are in close contact with the ship owners, managers, and manning agencies involved as well as with Greek authorities in order to ensure the safety of Filipino seamen in such ships.

Ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao has been monitoring closely these events, and keeping the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alberto G. Romulo posted on developments, and even talking directly with ship owners in order to ensure the safety of Filipino seamen in hijacked ships.

Presently there are 53  Filipino seamen still held by pirates on three Greek-owned ships – Filitsa, Maran Centaurus and Navios Apollon – seized by Somali pirates in November-December 2009 and now berthed off the coast of Somalia.  There are additionally 22  other Filipino seamen still on three other ships owned each by Taiwanese, Thai and British companies, also hijacked by the pirates off Somalia.

The three Greek-owned ships are as follows:

• The 23,709 dwt cargo ship Filitsa, captured on November 11 is a Marshall Islands-flagged ship whichwas heading from Kuwait to Durban, South Africa when it was attacked 500 miles northeast of the Seychelles.  Order Shipping Co., the vessel’s operating company,  keeps the POLO posted on developments nearly every day and has assured the office  of the crew’s safety as well as  the continuing efforts of the company to bring the matter – now almost two months long – to an early settlement.

• The oil tanker Maran Centaurus, 332 meters in length, was sailing from Kuwait to New Orleans, USA when it was seized on November 29 near the Seychelles carrying around two million barrels of crude oil. Somali pirates captured Maran Centaurus 762 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Somalia.  It was then the farthest afield that the Somali pirates had ever struck. The ship, with deadweight of  300,294 tons, was carrying US$ 140 million in crude oil. In view thereof, the attack may be considered the largest and most audacious act of piracy in maritime history. Capt. Manthos Koutsothanasis, the crew manager of Maran Tankers Management Inc., reported to the POLO that the crew are in good shape.

• The Panamanian-flagged bulk cargo Navios Apollon was seized on December 28 about 800 miles off the Somali coast, north of the Seychelles. The vessel was sailing from the Florida to India with a cargo of fertilizer.

The recent hijacking cases emphasizes the worsening situation that the Somali pirates reach has grown.

The six captured ships, including the three owned by Greeks (in bold text), with Filipinos on board, are as follows:

Another Marshall Island-flagged bulk carrier, Delvina, hijacked on 5 November with a crew of 21, including 14 Filipinos, was released recently (on December 16) with all the crew unharmed.

The Somalia east coast is now teeming with captured vessels and crew. There are reportedly seven other vessels off the coast of Somalia with a combined crew of 161 (no Filipinos) bringing the total crew still kidnapped by the  pirates  to 308, of whom 75 or one-fourth, are Filipinos.

In 2009, Somali pirates seized 305 Filipinos on board 22 vessels. In comparison, a total of 117 Filipino seamen on board 11 ships were seized in the Gulf of Aden by the Somali pirates in 2008.

The Philippine manning agents of Filitsa, Maran Centaurus, and Navios Apollon are: Bright Maritime Corporation, Friendly Maritime Services, Inc., and Inter-Orient Maritime Enterprises, Inc., respectively.

The problematic mv Aetea Sierra off Piraeus

The Greek-owned, troubled  Aetea Sierra will be auctioned 17 February 2010 in order to pay the wages of Filipino sailors  ordered  by the Pireaus court in its order of 21 December 2009 unless the ship owner, Aetea Sierra Maritime Company, Ltd, can raise the money to settle its debts to the seamen.   The 12 Filipino sailors altogether will be paid a minimum of US$189,000 to a maxium of US$466,600, according to their lawyers.

In its order of 21 December, the Court of First Instance of Piraeus directed the immediate payment of 132,963.32 euros (about $190,000) to the 12 seamen, representing their unpaid salaries up to 9 November 2009.  In addition,  another 195,000 euros were to paid to them later, to represent   estimated salaries starting 10 November 2009 up to the day  the seamen leave the ship as well as compensation for the physical discomfort and  mental distress the ship-owners have caused the seamen in the episode.

The lowest award, including the later payments, amounted to 22,256 euros, in the case of  one officer,  while the highest award  totalled 41,711 euros.

To the  benefit of the seamean, the court based its award on prevailing Greek standards and not on the contracts signed by the seamen. The court’s award consequently represented six times the salaries of the sailors according to their contracts.

The seamen’s  lawyers, Attys. Thanasis Alykatoras of the ITF and Christos Moschos of Pavlakis-Moschos Law Offices, explained that the court  also ordered that the additional amount of 195,000 euros (or $277,000) be secured to be collected for the seamen at a later stage of the case.

The Filipino crewmembers are now waiting for the arrival of their replacements so that they could return to the Philippines and rejoin their families. Meanwhile, their wages will accrue, based on the favorable Greek standards, until they are fully paid, that is, while they stay in Greece. Eleven of them have already completed their contracts.

The  Aetea Sierra was impounded in the Piraeus Port in September near Athens when a case was filed against its owners by the ship charterers  for its alleged failure to unload the cargo at the agreed port  (not in  Greece).

Tthe ship crew  were being regularly supplied with the normal provisions. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office had been closely monitoring the provision of food and other necessities for the crew. The Philippine Embassy also sent Filipino food and beverages to the crew.

The Philppine Embassy’s Consul General Constancio Vingno and the POLO were in regular cellphone communication throughout the entire episode with Jose Cardenas, the highest ranking Filipino officer, and with other crewmen to determine what the crew needed. Labor attaché Eduvala had early talked to the entire crew to explain to them their options. □

The remains of Bonifacio Vallescas, Reo Arias, Danilo Esparagoza, Noel Lagamon, Bryan Pragamac, and Jerry Espanola arrived in Manila at 6:45 p.m. via a chartered Boeing DC 8 flight.  The plane flew from Venezuela to Athens, and after unloading the remains of the three Greek sailors killed in the same incident,  took off  for Manila  with a refueling stop in  Dubai. The flight though was delayed for eight hours  in Dubai because of unfavorable weather.   The families of the Filipino seafarers patiently waited for eight hours at a nearby hotel quarters provided by the shipping company, to eventually receive the remains.

With the familes were DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Executive Director Enrico Fos and other officials of the DFA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. M/V Aegean Wind caught fire on Christmas day while on sail in Venezuelan waters. The fire resulted in nine deaths, including the six Filipinos and three Greeks sailors. Two Filipinos seafarers, Mark San Jose and Cromwell Pilapil, were injured. Mr. San Jose has arrived in Manila earlier while Mr. Pilapil is still in Curacao for medical treatment. Seven other Filipino seafarers who survived are still in Caracas for the ongoing investigation.

Under the instructions of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos coordinated the actions of the Philippine Embassies in Caracas, Venezuela and Athens, Greece.

After inspecting the FWRC, the lawmakers met with leaders of the Filipino community at a meeting organized by Ambassador Tiglao at the Philippine Embassy. At the meeting, Deputy Speaker del Mar lauded Ambassador Tiglao and the Philippine Embassy for their efforts in protecting and ensuring the welfare of overseas Filipinos in Greece.

The lawmakers also commended the overseas Filipino workers for their sacrifices in improving the lot of their families left in the Philippines. They assured the Filipino community leaders that they will endeavor to enact legislation that would be beneficial to OFWs, not only in Greece, but those in other parts of the world. An open forum followed the meeting where the lawmakers addressed the various concerns raised by the Filipino community leaders. Thereafter, the guests were treated to a buffet dinner consisting of pancit, bopis, longganiza, spring rolls, beef with broccoli, spare ribs, steamed rice, Greek salad, and fresh fruits. During their stay in Greece, the lawmakers were assisted by Philippine Embassy Administrative Officer Hermogenes Garcia, Labor Attaché Eduvala, Labor Administrative Assistant Tito Baldago Jr., and PAG-Ibig Representative Jean Santos.