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The five Filipino seamen on board the Dutch vessel that was hijacked
in international waters off the coast of Somalia a month ago are set
to return to Manila on Tuesday.
According to Department of Foreign Affairs
spokesperson Claro Cristobal, the Filipino crew of the MV Amiya
Scan, which was released by Somali pirates last June 24, will arrive
in Manila today aboard Gulf Air flight 156 at 4:40 p.m.
They were identified as wiper Frederick Reyes,
33, of Pangasinan; able seaman Gino Titus Dario, 45, of Quezon City;
able seaman Teotimo Trovela, 45, of Iloilo; ordinary seaman Mark
John Manuel, 27, of Bataan; and cook Chivas Regal Collado, 30, of
Makati City.
The Amiya Scan, owned by the Dutch company
Reider Shipping, was hijacked on May 25 in the Gulf of Aden as it
was sailing from Kenya on its way to Romania.
The ship and its crew were in the hands of
unidentified pirates for a month. Aside from the five Filipinos, the
ship had a crew of four Russians and a Russian captain.
The Amiya Scan was the sixth ship hijacked by
Somali pirates in two months, said the Commercial Crimes Services of
the International Maritime Bureau. Since January of this year, 24
ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, compared with 44 for
the whole of 2007.
Globally, 166 hostages have been taken by
pirates so far this year. All were eventually released.
-- Katrice R. Jalbuena
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