With less than a week before Christmas, the number of Filipino seafarers still in the custody of Somali pirates is down to 56, following the release of Greek-owned ship MV Delvina, Department of Foreign Affairs reported Friday.
MV Delvina had 21 crew on board, including seven Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos, Foreign Affairs department said.

Citing reports from the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi, the department confirmed that the 14 seafarers were safe and in good health, and that the MV Delvina and its crew were already heading to Mombasa. 

The lingering piracy problem and hostage-taking involving Filipino crew seafarers off the coast of Somalia has already prompted the Department of Labor and Employment to require would-be Filipino seafarers to undergo anti-piracy training so as to make them knowledgeable in dealing with sea-piracy situations and how to avoid it.

In addition, the Labor department and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration have also issued safety and security directives to manning agencies of ships plying the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden.
The Philippine government maintains a no-ransom piracy in dealing with the Somali pirates, and is instead coordinating with concerned manning agencies and their shipping principals on the release and repatriation of Filipino seafarers.

In a related development, a high-level Somali delegation led by Somali Deputy Prime Minister Abdurahman Aden Ibrahim Ibbi will visit the Philippines on December 21 to 23 to explore possible areas of cooperation with Manila concerning maritime security, search and rescue, law enforcement operations, combating piracy, marine environmental protection, aquaculture development and human resource development.

Deputy Prime Minister Ibbi, who is also the minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Somalia, is scheduled to meet with officials of the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Navy, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Civil Service Commission. He will be accompanied by Somali Ambassador to Indonesia Mohamud Olow Barow and Somali Navy Commander Admiral Farah Ahmed Omar.

Llanesca T. Panti