No Filipino Seamen On Hijacked Danish Ship

An official of the Department of Foreign on Saturday said no
Filipino seamen were on board the Danish cargo ship that was hijacked off Somalia.

    GMA News Flash Report said this was confirmed by DFA
spokesman Claro Cristobal.

    The Associated Press earlier reported that vessel with 13
crewmen was en route from the Middle East to Asia in the Gulf of Aden when it
was seized Friday, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime
Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur. The ship flies a Bahamas flag but operates out of Denmark, Choong
said.

    “Pirates are still attacking despite increased patrols.
We have urged ships to take extra precaution when transiting in this busy
waterway,” Choong said. No further details were immediately available.

    NATO has sent three ships to the Gulf
of Aden — one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes — to help the
U.S. Navy in anti-piracy patrols and to escort cargo vessels. The European
Union has said at least four warships backed by aircraft will begin policing
the dangerous waters in December. The EU flotilla will eventually take over
patrolling the area from NATO ships.

    Nevertheless, attacks have continued unabated off Somalia, which
is caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has had no functioning government
since 1991.

    There have been 81 attacks this year in the African waters,
with 32 ships hijacked. Eleven vessels remain in the hands of pirates along
with more than 200 crew, Choong said.