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| Africa Horn |
| 9 Filipino sailors freed by pirates |
| 2008-09-13 |
| (Xinhua) -- Nine Filipino seamen who were among the 13 crew of a German-owned vessel freed recently by pirates one month after they were hijacked off the Somalia coast, the Philippine government said on Friday. The spokesman of Department of Foreign Affairs Claro Cristobal said the Filipino sailors were all physically unharmed and in good condition when they were released on Thursday. German's Antigua-flagged MV BBC Trinidad was seized on Aug. 21 off the unpatrolled Somali coast. The vessel, which was held in the northeastern Somali fishing village of Eyl, has a 13-member crew including a Slovenian captain, 10 Filipinos and two Russians. Cristobal said his department is still working on the release of 51 other Filipino sailors in six hijacked foreign vessels since July 19 near Somali waters. Due to the rising number of hostage-taking involving Filipino sailors, the Philippine government has proposed a deployment ban on land and sea-based workers in Somalia to protect them from being taken as hostages. Under the proposal, the Filipino crews are to be restricted by their contract to "safe sea lanes" identified and certified by the Coalition of Naval Forces operating in the area. The waters off Somalia and Nigeria are the most pirate-infested in the world, with the International Maritime Bureau reporting 24 attacks in Somalia and 18 in Nigeria between April and June this year. |
| Posted by:Fred |