Seamen say move to ban deployment ‘ridiculous’

The proposal of the government to stop the deployment of Filipino seafarers shipping vessels that pass through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden is ridiculous, the head of a local maritime group said Monday.

Engr. Nelson Ramirez, president of the United Filipino Seafarers (UFS), said the proposal is not realistic as Filipino seamen comprise the majority of the crew of practically every sea vessel that passes through the Gulf.

“They are talking nonsense. They don’t know anything about the situation,” he told The Manila Times, referring to the government and its proposal to either ban seafarer deployment or ask shipping employers to drop Filipino seafarers in a “safe harbor” before entering the risky waters of Somalia.

The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia and has ever since been a high-risk for seafarers as piracy continues to escalate after a civil unrest in Somalia in 1991 left the country government-free.

On Saturday, the Office of the Press Secretary released a statement stating the ban imposed by the Department of Labor and Employment to commercial shipping vessels traveling within 200 nautical miles or 300 kilometers from Somalia.

“That would mean lost opportunities for many Filipino seafarers because almost 40 percent of the global merchant marine fleet traverses the risky waters of the Gulf of Aden for the lucrative trade between Europe and the Far East or vice versa,” he said.

He also argued that the proposal to disembark Filipino seafarers before the shipping vessel enters the “pirate alley,” as Gulf of Aden is being called, is “impossible.”

 “No shipowner on his right mind, would even think of disembarking Filipino seafarers before his commercial vessel enters the Gulf of Aden” he pointed out, adding that the transportation of Filipino seafarers to and from the considered “safe areas” is impossible.

“The Somali pirates are not just operating near the coastal waters off Somalia or Gulf of Aden per se but actually in the waters forming the Horn of Africa, which is about one million square miles,” he added in a statement.

Furthermore, except for United Nations-sanctioned vessels that bring food and relief good to Somalian nationals, there are no commercial vessels going in or out of Somalia. “So the ban cannot be imposed technically,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez told The Manila Times that the best the government can do is to increase naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden and to call for a summit or a tripartite conference composing of seafarers, labor unions, employers and government officials to address the problem.

“Every commercial vessel passing through the risky waters should be in a convoy of around 10 to 12 vessels and with military vessels to protect them from the lightning assaults of the Somali pirates. In that way, pirates would think twice of attacking or taking hostage a commercial freighter because they can see the big guns pointing towards their direction if they pursue their evil plans,” he said.

“Or better yet, the UN and those nations who are cap1able should consider addressing the root of the problem by finding a solution to the hunger and poverty, as well as the lawlessness, in Somalia, which has prompted a number of their citizens to go into piracy as a lucrative means to make ends meet.”

Filipino seafarers compose one-third of the world’s shipping manpower and have been most prone to kidnappings in the high seas.
— Bernice Camille V. Bauzon, Manila Times