10 Filipino seafarers home after pirate abduction

Aside from the Filipinos also released were three Romanians and a Russian who served in the ship.Manila: Ten Filipino seafarers abducted by pirates in the Gulf of Oman were reunited with their families in the Philippines Saturday after spending more than six months in captivity.The Filipinos were welcomed by their families at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Saturday, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said. They were part of the 19 Philippine nationals who comprised the crew of the Panamanian-flagged, Greek-owned MV Dover.Aside from the Filipinos also released were three Romanians and a Russian who served in the ship.The remaining Filipino crew of the MV Dover are expected to arrive in the Philippines in the coming days.Radio reports said that the MV Dover, a bulk carrier, was boarded by pirates last February 28 as it was travelling in the Gulf of Oman, 260 nautical miles North East of Salalah in the North Arabian Sea.The pirates had commandeered the vessel and took it to Somalia where the captors demanded ransom for the release of the ship and its crewmen.According to the Somalia Report website, the MV Dover and its crewmen were released after payment of $3.8 million ransom.Aside from the MV Dover, the pirates, who are believed to be from Somalia, were holding seven Danish seized from a yatch sailing nearby.The report said the Danish hostages, five of whom are family members on a world tour at the time they were captured, were also freed upon payment of ransom.The arrival of Filipino seaman from the MV Dover came a week after Filipino crewmen of a Cyprus-flagged and owned container vessel fought off an attempt by pirates from Somalia to seize their vesse, the MV Pacific Express.The Pacific Express vessel with 25 Filipinos and one Ukrainian crewmember, successfully repelled a piracy attack last September 20.Tens of thousands of Filipinos serve in the international merchant fleet. Their numbers are such that their chances of being victimised in pirate attacks are bigger compared to other seafaring nationalities.For this reason, the Philippine government had undertaken measures to minimize the exposure of Filipino seafarers to piracy attacks, including making arrangements with ship principals and manning agencies for vessels to travel along a safety corridor and to adopt best management practices as deterrence to piracy.The Philippines is a member of the intergovernmental Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.