Labor chief urges more protection for Filipino sailors

MANILA – Labor Secretary Marianito Roque on Wednesday called on shipping companies to provide more protection for Filipino sailors after 16 of them were seized by pirates who took over a Greek-flagged supertanker off Somalia.

He said that following the seizure of the Maran Centaurus on Sunday. A total of 71 Filipinos were being held by pirates operating on the lawless seas off the Horn of Africa.

“Owners of ships plying the Gulf of Aden should drill their seafarers on safety precautions in case they will be boarded — evasion strategies as well,” Roque told reporters.

The 16 Filipinos were among 28 crew members aboard the Maran Centaurus when it was taken over.

The crew of a second Greek tanker, the Sikinos, including 16 Filipinos, almost met a similar fate on Tuesday but used water hoses and flares to repel a dawn attack by pirates off Oman.

Roque said he would address a shipowners’ meeting in London in mid-December to urge them to do more to protect crews.

At least 229,000 Filipinos are aboard merchant shipping vessels around the world, the largest single group by nationality, according to Philippine labor department data.

Roque said pirates operating off Somalia were now ranging far beyond their original spheres of operations, and that a multinational naval fleet deployed in the area was being spread thin.

“Our challenge is, the interdictions are no longer happening in the Gulf of Aden. (These) are happening outside, (off) Tanzania, or even somewhere in the Indian Ocean,” he said.

“We are patrolling the gulf but nothing is happening between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. They (pirates) are now operating beyond those areas.

“It’s getting farther so we just have to discuss this openly with the shipowners, especially in Europe.”

Roque said Manila was also counting on the shipowners to take steps to win the freedom of Filipinos and other crews detained by pirates.

“It’s between the shipowners and third parties they are getting for mediation,” he said when asked what was being done to win the freedom of the Filipinos. –Agence France-Presse