Gov’t adopts measures to protect Filipino seamen

The government has come up with a plan to minimize the risk Filipino seamen face from Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The plan calls for, among other measures, the adoption of what the merchant shipping industry refers to as “best management practices,” DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said Wednesday.

These practices—or ship protection measures—include watch and lookout arrangements, installing antipiracy alarms and razor wire around the vessels, using water cannons that blast steam and hot water as deterrents, and wearing night vision optics.

Safe corridor

“The government is also making arrangements with ships’ foreign principals and local manning agencies to travel along a safe corridor. We have also taken up the issue of maritime safety before the United Nations and other international organizations,” Hernandez told the Inquirer.

The Philippines is a member of the 70-nation Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, which includes the United States, China, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, among other countries.

Twenty-six Filipino seamen on three foreign-flagged vessels are still held hostage by Somali pirates.

Between 2006 and 2011, a total of 769 seafarers from the Philippines were seized by pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. All but the 26 were released unharmed and on payment by their principals of ransom, it is believed.

Meanwhile, a US Department of State report said Washington had “partnered with the shipping industry to improve practical steps merchant ships and crews can take to avoid, deter, delay and counter piracy attacks.”

“The shipping industry’s use of best management practices and the increasing use of privately contracted armed security personnel are among these measures which have proven to be the most effective deterrents against pirate attacks,” said the agency.

According to the state department, “fighting piracy is a vital element of the US strategic objectives in Somalia, which are to help this stressed nation to regain stability, eliminate terrorism and respond to the humanitarian needs of its people.”

It noted that “piracy off the coast of Somalia is a crime of growing global concern.”

Multilateral approach

“Piracy has significant and direct implications for every nation—from rising danger to seafarers to impact on humanitarian aid deliveries and global commerce. To address this shared security challenge, the US is actively pursuing a broad, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral approach to combating piracy focused on security, prevention and deterrence,” it said.

The US, the agency said, is “proud to be a founding partner of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia,” established in 2009 pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1851.

The group has “facilitated the operational coordination of an unprecedented international naval effort from more than 30 countries working together to protect transiting vessels; worked to build the capacity of Somalia and other countries (in east Africa) to combat piracy; and launched a new working group aimed at disrupting the pirate enterprise ashore, including its financial networks through approaches similar to those used to address other types of organized transnational crime networks,” the state department said.