Tanker MT Mattheos I released
Cyprus-flagged and Norwegian-managed tanker MT Mattheos I, together with its 14 Filipino seafarers, was released Saturday after 10 days in captivity, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
In an initial report, Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos C. Salinas said the ship is now proceeding to a neutral port after it was seized in Lome, Togo in West Africa.
He said the 14 seafarers were among the 23 seafarers of mixed nationalities on board the ship who are all “well and safe.”
Following this report, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has alerted and instructed concerned Philippine embassies to provide appropriate assistance and to make arrangements for the immediate repatriation of the Filipino seafarers to Manila.
At any given time, some 250,000 Filipino seafarers are at sea. They comprise about a fourth of the total number of seafarers in the world and become most prone to piracy attacks, especially in the Gulf of Aden.
This has prompted the Philippine government to make arrangements with ship owners and manning agencies to travel along a safety corridor and to adopt best management practices as deterrence to piracy attacks.
It has also taken up the issue of maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean before the United Nations and other international organizations. The Philippines is a member of the intergovernmental Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).
In an initial report, Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos C. Salinas said the ship is now proceeding to a neutral port after it was seized in Lome, Togo in West Africa.
He said the 14 seafarers were among the 23 seafarers of mixed nationalities on board the ship who are all “well and safe.”
Following this report, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has alerted and instructed concerned Philippine embassies to provide appropriate assistance and to make arrangements for the immediate repatriation of the Filipino seafarers to Manila.
At any given time, some 250,000 Filipino seafarers are at sea. They comprise about a fourth of the total number of seafarers in the world and become most prone to piracy attacks, especially in the Gulf of Aden.
This has prompted the Philippine government to make arrangements with ship owners and manning agencies to travel along a safety corridor and to adopt best management practices as deterrence to piracy attacks.
It has also taken up the issue of maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean before the United Nations and other international organizations. The Philippines is a member of the intergovernmental Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).