(philstar.com) Updated January 15, 2011 07:03 PM
MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Four Filipinos were among the kidnapped crew members of a Danish-owned cargo ship that was boarded by ransom-seeking Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Jan. 12, the Department of Foreign Affairs said today.
The Leopard, a 2,000-ton ship believed to be carrying " sensitive" cargo, was boarded in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Oman, when the ship was seized. Two other Danish crew members were also seized.
The information was relayed to the DFA by the seafarers' local manning agency.
The latest hostage-taking brings to 113 the total number of Filipino seafarers onboard 11 vessels who are being held captive by pirates.
Concerned Philippine embassies, the ships' principals and the local manning agencies are in close coordination to ensure the early and safe release of the sailors.
Philippine officials have been in a dilemma on how to provide protection to the seafarers due to the rapid mobility of the seamen and the government's inability to track their destination.
A ban proposed by the Philippine government has met strong opposition from local seafarers' groups, saying this policy would cost them their jobs and force shipping companies to turn to other nations for manpower.
The Philippines is the world's leading supplier of ship crew with over 350,000 sailors, or about a fifth of the world's seafarers, manning oil tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels worldwide, exposing them to piracy attacks.
As a policy, the Philippine government does not negotiate nor pay ransom to kidnappers, but gives ship owners the free hand in negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino sailors.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=648386&publicationSubCategoryId=200Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=36637.0
Topic: 4 Filipino seamen kidnapped in Gulf of Aden (Read 630 times)