3 Pinoy seamen onboard hijacked tanker

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday that three Filipino seafarers are onboard the hijacked British tanker St. James Park.

"In an initial report to the DFA, the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi stated that the crew of the hijacked ship St. James Park is composed of six Indians, five Bulgarians, three each from the Philippines, Russia, Turkey; two each from Romania and Ukraine and one each from Poland and Georgia," DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said.

"The Philippine Embassy is coordinating with the ship's principal and authorities of the concerned countries on the safety and security of the crewmembers," he assured.

Earlier reports revealed that some Filipinos had been among the hijacked crewmembers of the tanker but the number of Filipino crewmembers had been undetermined until Saturday.

British-flagged chemical tanker St. James Park, carrying 26 crewmembers, was reportedly seized by Somali pirates in late December on its way to Thailand from Tarragona, Spain.

A Singapore-flagged chemical tanker, MV Pramoni, had also been seized on January 1 but the DFA said there has been no report from the Philippine post that Filipinos were onboard. There were reportedly 24 crewmembers onboard and is the first attack by Somali pirates this 2010.

"We haven't been alerted by the Nairobi Philippine Embassy although we will check with them," Malaya said.

The United Nations (UN) International Maritime Organization (IMO) has dedicated 2010 to the 1.5 million seafarers, 30 percent of whom are from the Philippines.

"Our intention is to pay tribute to you, the world's 1.5 million seafarers - men and women from all over the globe - for the unique, and all too often over-looked, contribution you make to the wellbeing of all of us," UN IMO Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos said in a message.