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Monday, November 17, 2008
Ship with 18 RP seamen hijacked off Somalia
SEOUL, South Korea -- A cargo ship with five Koreans and 18 Filipino seamen onboard was hijacked by armed gunmen off the coast of Somalia, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
Chemstar Venus, owned by a Japanese shipping company and registered in Panama, was seized Saturday night in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, the ministry said in a statement. It added that the ship was carrying unidentified chemicals.
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However, the Philippine Foreign Affairs department said it still has to verify the reports.
The condition of the Chemstar Venus crew was not immediately known. South Korean officials said they had no information on whether the gunmen were seeking a ransom.
The Foreign Ministry also said it will cooperate with Japan's government and the shipping company to win the early release of the sailors.
The name of the Japanese company was also not immediately available.
Deputy Presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo meantime said that Malacañang has been continuously calling for increased security in Somalia waters. She said the Philippine government will do all it can to secure the release of the Filipino seamen.
Also on Sunday, Somali pirates released an earlier-seized cargo vessel with 18 Indian crewmembers after being paid a ransom, Indian officials said.
All the crewmembers on the Japanese-owned Stolt Valor were safe, Abdul Gani Sarang, chairman of the National Union of Seafarers of India, told the NDTV news channel. He, however, did not reveal who had paid the ransom or how much it was.
Seema Goel, wife of Stolt Valor captain Prabhat Goel, told the Press Trust of India news agency that the ship was expected to arrive in Mumbai in the next four or five days.
On Friday, a Chinese fishing vessel carrying 24 Asian sailors was also hijacked by suspected Somali pirates, according to China's Xinhua News Agency.
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said Sunday that three Filipino seamen were among the abducted sailors and all the crewmen were unharmed.
Somalia, which has had no functioning government since 1991, is the world's top piracy hotspot. It is located along the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and is one of the world's busiest waterways with some 20,000 ships passing through it each year.
Somali pirates are trained fighters, often dressed in military fatigues, using speedboats equipped with satellite phones and GPS equipment. They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rockets launchers and various types of grenades.
In October, 22 sailors -- eight South Koreans and 14 citizens of Myanmar -- were released following a month of captivity after their South Korean shipping company paid a ransom to Somali pirates.
South Korea is considering dispatching navy vessels to join warships from several other countries, including India, in patrolling the waters off Somalia.
A Nato flotilla of seven vessels is also in the Gulf of Aden to help the US 5th Fleet in anti-piracy patrols and to escort cargo vessels. The 5th Fleet said it has repelled about two dozen pirate attacks since August 22.
Nevertheless, pirate attacks have surged in the past week, with at least five successful hijackings since November 7, according to news reports and figures from the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia. (AP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (November 17, 2008 issue)
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