The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that the 24 Filipino seafarers aboard the MV Pacific Express arrived in Manila last night aboard an Emirates flight from Mombasa, Kenya at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
On hand to welcome them were DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) Special Assistant Atty. Enrico T. Fos, DFA-OUMWA Legal Officer Emily Villanueva- Descallar and representatives from the DFA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
The Cyprus-flagged and owned container vessel with 25 Filipinos and one Ukrainian crewmember successfully repelled a piracy attack last September 20.
A Filipino seafarer stayed behind in Mombasa to assess the pirate-inflicted damage suffered by the vessel, as well as to conduct a property inventory.
The MV Pacific Express was attacked by armed pirates approximately 180 nautical miles east-southeast of Mombasa, prompting the vessel’s captain to send a distress call, which alerted the navy vessel Andreadoria to come to their rescue.
The pirates abandoned the vessel and its crewmembers upon the arrival of the navy vessel. However, the pirates set fire to the vessel and burned items including the crewmembers’ belongings before leaving the ship.
The Philippine Embassy in Nairobi provided consular assistance to the crewmembers, as it issued travel documents to the Filipino seafarers since their passports and seamen’s books were among the burned items.
As of date, there are 32 Filipino seafarers aboard five vessels who are held captive by pirates at the Gulf of Aden.
Source DFA
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