23 Filipinos languishing in the hands of Somali pirates
International Desk
August 18, 2009
Families of victims appeal for Philippine government´s help.
Manila, Philippines — More than 20 Filipino seamen have been languishing for five months now in the hands of Somali pirates aboard their hijacked ship, MV Irene EM, off the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, Africa, with very little food and water supplies.
The families of the victims are appealing to the Philippine government to step up the pressure on the shipping firm and authorities to negotiate for the immediate release of the seamen or secure help from the international community to rescue the kidnapped crew of the MV Irene.
MV Irene is a 35,000-ton oil tanker owned by Bright Maritime Corp., a major Greek shipping firm. The Somali pirates hijacked the ship on April 14, 2009 off the Gulf of Aden, a treacherous area for foreign vessels.
The hijacking took place two days after the U.S. military successfully rescued Richard Phillips, the captain of the U.S-flagged Maersk Alabama container ship. Three Somali pirates were killed in that daring rescue mission.
NATO received a distress call from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged merchant about the MV Irene hijack incident on April 14. A Canadian warship sent a helicopter to investigate what was happening but it was too late. After MV Irene was hijacked, four more ships were captured in the Gulf of Aden that week.
Gemma Q. Casas, a Filipino journalist based in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, said she last saw her 43-year-old brother, Joven, in January when she went home for vacation. Her brother, a master electrician at the ship, left for Singapore on the same day she arrived.
MV Irene picked up its crew in Singapore and headed to China and then to Pakistan before going to the Middle East. Kenya is the final stop of the ship´s six-month tour of duty.
She said her brother last spoke to her sister-in-law, Yolly Casas, when the ship made a brief stop-over in Amman, Jordan—that was a week before the pirates staged the hijacking.
"I hope the Philippine government does something about the case of the MV Irene crew. Their ordeal has been dragging for five long months now. We don´t know how long these victims can still sustain the mental and physical stress they are suffering from the hands of the Somali pirates," she said. "Must we wait for them to be dead before we do something?"
The ship´s captain, Necitas Garcia, who was allowed by the pirates to call his family via a satellite phone, said they have no more food and water.
He told his family many of the crew members are sick or in state of desperation. He said they even have to collect water dripping from the ship´s air-con just so they could have something to drink.
The pirates, who are armed with AK-47 and other sophisticated weapons, have kept the crew aboard the ship somewhere in the Gulf of Aden. The ship´s food and water supplies ran out as early as last month, according to Garcia.
Gemma Casas said the Philippine government, which calls the overseas Filipino workers "new heroes," for keeping the country´s economy afloat with the billions of dollars they remit every year, should help the kidnapped seamen just like what the Indian government did, or at least negotiate for their immediate release.
In July, the Indian Navy, with the help of the French government, rescued 12 Indian sailors from the Somali pirates. The rescue mission came within days after their captivity.
"Piracy in Somalia and that of the MV Irene´s case isn´t just about the kidnapped seamen and their families´ crisis. This is about global maritime security that the international community should address to protect people, their livelihood, access to food and oil, and the right to live in a peaceful world," said Gemma Casas.
"Anarchy and poverty prevails in many countries in Africa like Somalia. They have become perfect breeding grounds for crimes and terrorists who are just waiting for an opportunity to attack the rest of us and their own, no matter our distance," she added.
Mary Ann Entrampas, wife of the ship´s chief engineer, Leo Entrampas Sr., said she last spoke to her husband on April 12. She too is appealing to the Philippine government to help the crew of the MV Irene.
"We are really getting worried. It´s been five months since they were captured. We hope the Philippine government does something about this hostage situation," said Mrs. Entrampas who is based in Cebu City. The couple have four children—three girls and a boy.
Reports indicate piracy has become a lucrative source of livelihood among many Somalis since the 1990s when Somalia experienced political and social unrest. Chaos and anarchy rule in the country which inspired the movie "Black Hawk."
Authorities said about 50 percent of the ransom paid by the shipping companies goes to the Somali government, 25 percent goes to the pirates and the rest is used to buy weapons and ammunitions, mostly from Russia.
In January, Somali pirates hijacked Sirius Star, a giant Saudi oil tanker. The ship´s owner reportedly paid $20 million for its release—the pirates' single biggest loot so far.
Analysts estimate the Somali pirates earn as much as $150 million a year for hijacking foreign vessels.
About a third of merchant sailors around the world are Filipinos. In 2007, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said shipping companies deployed 389,607 Filipino seamen worldwide, accounting for over $2.6 billion of remittances to the country.
Over time, hundreds of Filipino seamen have been kidnapped by the Somali pirates with their ships.
The MV Irene's case is one of the longest hostage situations recorded in Somalia´s history.
Manila, Philippines — More than 20 Filipino seamen have been languishing for five months now in the hands of Somali pirates aboard their hijacked ship, MV Irene EM, off the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, Africa, with very little food and water supplies.
The families of the victims are appealing to the Philippine government to step up the pressure on the shipping firm and authorities to negotiate for the immediate release of the seamen or secure help from the international community to rescue the kidnapped crew of the MV Irene.
MV Irene is a 35,000-ton oil tanker owned by Bright Maritime Corp., a major Greek shipping firm. The Somali pirates hijacked the ship on April 14, 2009 off the Gulf of Aden, a treacherous area for foreign vessels.
The hijacking took place two days after the U.S. military successfully rescued Richard Phillips, the captain of the U.S-flagged Maersk Alabama container ship. Three Somali pirates were killed in that daring rescue mission.
NATO received a distress call from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged merchant about the MV Irene hijack incident on April 14. A Canadian warship sent a helicopter to investigate what was happening but it was too late. After MV Irene was hijacked, four more ships were captured in the Gulf of Aden that week.
Gemma Q. Casas, a Filipino journalist based in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, said she last saw her 43-year-old brother, Joven, in January when she went home for vacation. Her brother, a master electrician at the ship, left for Singapore on the same day she arrived.
MV Irene picked up its crew in Singapore and headed to China and then to Pakistan before going to the Middle East. Kenya is the final stop of the ship´s six-month tour of duty.
She said her brother last spoke to her sister-in-law, Yolly Casas, when the ship made a brief stop-over in Amman, Jordan—that was a week before the pirates staged the hijacking.
"I hope the Philippine government does something about the case of the MV Irene crew. Their ordeal has been dragging for five long months now. We don´t know how long these victims can still sustain the mental and physical stress they are suffering from the hands of the Somali pirates," she said. "Must we wait for them to be dead before we do something?"
The ship´s captain, Necitas Garcia, who was allowed by the pirates to call his family via a satellite phone, said they have no more food and water.
He told his family many of the crew members are sick or in state of desperation. He said they even have to collect water dripping from the ship´s air-con just so they could have something to drink.
The pirates, who are armed with AK-47 and other sophisticated weapons, have kept the crew aboard the ship somewhere in the Gulf of Aden. The ship´s food and water supplies ran out as early as last month, according to Garcia.
Gemma Casas said the Philippine government, which calls the overseas Filipino workers "new heroes," for keeping the country´s economy afloat with the billions of dollars they remit every year, should help the kidnapped seamen just like what the Indian government did, or at least negotiate for their immediate release.
In July, the Indian Navy, with the help of the French government, rescued 12 Indian sailors from the Somali pirates. The rescue mission came within days after their captivity.
"Piracy in Somalia and that of the MV Irene´s case isn´t just about the kidnapped seamen and their families´ crisis. This is about global maritime security that the international community should address to protect people, their livelihood, access to food and oil, and the right to live in a peaceful world," said Gemma Casas.
"Anarchy and poverty prevails in many countries in Africa like Somalia. They have become perfect breeding grounds for crimes and terrorists who are just waiting for an opportunity to attack the rest of us and their own, no matter our distance," she added.
Mary Ann Entrampas, wife of the ship´s chief engineer, Leo Entrampas Sr., said she last spoke to her husband on April 12. She too is appealing to the Philippine government to help the crew of the MV Irene.
"We are really getting worried. It´s been five months since they were captured. We hope the Philippine government does something about this hostage situation," said Mrs. Entrampas who is based in Cebu City. The couple have four children—three girls and a boy.
Reports indicate piracy has become a lucrative source of livelihood among many Somalis since the 1990s when Somalia experienced political and social unrest. Chaos and anarchy rule in the country which inspired the movie "Black Hawk."
Authorities said about 50 percent of the ransom paid by the shipping companies goes to the Somali government, 25 percent goes to the pirates and the rest is used to buy weapons and ammunitions, mostly from Russia.
In January, Somali pirates hijacked Sirius Star, a giant Saudi oil tanker. The ship´s owner reportedly paid $20 million for its release—the pirates' single biggest loot so far.
Analysts estimate the Somali pirates earn as much as $150 million a year for hijacking foreign vessels.
About a third of merchant sailors around the world are Filipinos. In 2007, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said shipping companies deployed 389,607 Filipino seamen worldwide, accounting for over $2.6 billion of remittances to the country.
Over time, hundreds of Filipino seamen have been kidnapped by the Somali pirates with their ships.
The MV Irene's case is one of the longest hostage situations recorded in Somalia´s history.
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