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.