PIRACY and the Filipino Seafarers

A Filipino sailor,  Christopher Cortez Ceprado, was found dead last May 11, 2011 aboard MT Sea King , a Marshall Island-flagged chemical tanker, four days after it was attacked by pirates off the coast of Benin in West Africa. Heavily armed pirates on May 7, 2011  boarded chemical tanker MT Sea King while docked in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, . Ceprado, who was among the 15 Filipino crewmembers of the ship, was later found dead on May 11. The pirates looted the vessel and even the personal effects of the crew were taken

Ceprado's family hailed from my hometown  of Matabao. Tubigon, Bohol. 

Ceprado's remains came home more than a month after the incident. Legalization of documents were difficult since the nearest Philippine Embassy is far from where the incident occured. compounded by the somewhat slow coordination with the manning agencies and the insurance. Worse, when his cadaver was being flown to the Philippines, customs officials discovered that his legal documents such as  medical records and death certificate were missing in Amsterdam thus his body was not allowed to leave the airport unless all necessary papers are "reconstituted". His body  was originally scheduled to arrive on June 12, 2011 but it reached manila only on June 16, 2011.

This is the recent reported piracy casualty incident involving Filipino sailors in a hostage-taking incident in African waters.   On January 26, 2011 a Filipino crewman of German ship MV Beluga , Mr. Farolito Vallega,was shot and killed by Somali pirates as two anti-piracy naval patrol vessels attempted a rescue mission.

Last February,2011,   i attended a rally in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in connection with the death of  Filipino seafarer Vallega in a hostage incident in the Somalia seas.

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The German-owned MV Beluga Nomination was hijacked by Somali pirates 390 nautical miles north of Port Victoria in the Seychelles on January 22, 2011. Onboard the ship were 12 crewmembers, including seven Filipinos. The other crewmembers are of Russian, Ukrainian and Polish descent.  Another Filipino crewman is still reported missing after jumping overboard during the said rescue operation.

These incidents are  reality checks  to the risk faced by seafarers , particularly Filipino seafarers.  The Philippines, which supplies a third of the world’s seafarers’ population, is among the most adversely affected and seriously alarmed by incidences of piracy in the Somali basin and the Gulf of Aden. The hijacking of dozens of vessels, ranging from massive oil tankers to chartered supply ships carrying UN food aid for Somalia, has become a highly lucrative industry with millions of dollars paid in ransom each year.

The Philippines is considered as the major supplier of maritime labor globally. Per Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data, there were 330,424 Filipino seafarers deployed abroad in 2009 comprising almost 30 percent of the global maritime labor force. Although the number of deployed Filipino seafarers has decreased from 2006 (274,497), 2007 (266,553) to 2008 (261,614), the dollar remittances have been constantly  increasing from US$1.9B in 2006, US$2.2B in 2007 , US$3B in 2008, US$3.4B in 2009 to US$3.8B in 2010.

The Gulf of Aden  leads to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, a vital and one of the most cost-effective  route for trade between Asia and the Middle East, and Europe and North America. The effected area compromises two strategically important choke points. Around 7.5% of world trade travels through the Suez Canal.  The Straits of Hormuz lead to the Arabian Sea and a daily average of 16.5 to 17 million barrels transit through this effected area.  This is 40% of the world’s seaborne oil shipments and 20% of all the world’s oil shipments.There is no existing central government in Somalia. Since the United Nations withdrew in March 1995 without restoring a functioning government, little progress has been made.

Seafarers are on the frontline of the piracy problem. In recent years, thousands of seafarers have been killed, injured, assaulted, taken hostage or threatened as piracy and armed robbery have increased dramatically.. All seafarers transiting the Gulf of Aden and Northern Indian Ocean, have to live with the risk of attack. When ships are attacked by pirates, crews suffer the stress of being fired upon with guns and rocket propelled grenades and those captured can be held hostage for months. Following a piracy attack those involved can be seriously affected by post traumatic stress.

For the shipping industry, costs are soaring due to piracy issues. Operators now face rising insurance premiums for a high risk area.Other costs include installing preventative measures and protection on board, employing private security personnel, as well as  payments.

Worldwide, there have  been 248 attacks so far in 2011 with 28 vessels hijacked. The waters off Somalia continues to remain the most piracy-prone area but the risk to crews and shipping off Nigeria and its neighbouring states is remains high as well. As of January 2011 figures from the  International Maritime Bureau shows that there are over 700  hostages being held on over 30 vessels. However, other figures suggest that the figure could be higher than 800. To date, there are at least 130 Filipino seafarers on board 11 vessels that had been held captive by Somali pirates.

The ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) has issued a warning to vessels in the waters off Benin. Attacks are increasing as there have been eight attacks in total off Cotonou, Benin, so far in 2011 with six taking place since May this year. Of the eight attacks, four vessels were hijacked and two boarded by pirates who robbed ship and crew property and in some cases cargo.

In a paper presented during the recent anti-piracy  conference  held April 2011 in Dubai,   Benin  Ambassador Pamphile  Goutoundji  said "The scourge of piracy is moving to other areas of Africa. My country Benin is one of the unknown victims of this unlawful activity. Because of its geographical position, ( a large coastal side in the Gulf  of Guinea,  hub of maritime transportation in West Africa,  a port of transit for hinterlands countries), Benin has regularly witnessed piracy attacks and threats in her maritime waters."

            As a policy, the Philippine government does not negotiate with nor pay ransom to kidnappers, but gives ship owners the free hand in negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino sailors.

Initially a recommendation in  October  2008  to ban all Filipino seafarers from vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden  was the only solution being considered by the Philippines in order to protect the welfare of its seafarers. However,  the  proposed ban has met strong opposition from local seafarers’ groups and manning agencies  saying this policy would be costly on the maritime industry and will force shipping companies to turn to other nations for manpower. Stakeholders argued that if the Philippines were to suspend the sending of, or limit the travel of, seafarers to the pirate area, that would definitely disrupt world shipping. 

In response, the POEA has issued Governing Board resolutions from 2008 to the current year that declared high risk areas for our seafarers and  that seafarers passing within the declared ‘high risk’ areas shall receive double the amount of their basic wage, overtime pay, and leave pay. They shall also be entitled to a double amount of compensation and benefits in cases of death, injury, or illness while within the said areas. More significantly, the resolution orders the Master to inform the seafarer passing through high risk areas as the voyage is known.

The Governing Board also issued other resolutions relevant to the Somalia piracy issue such as GBR No. 6 (adopting the 5th revision of the IBF High Risk Area for a definition of a new high risk zone); GBR No.5 (allowing the deployment of Filipino seafarers on board vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden on certain conditions); and GBR No.3 (extending the high risk zone coordinates as defined by the IMEC).

In view of the “double pay” resolutions issued by the POEA, any Filipino seafarer who was hostaged is entitled to double the amount of his  basic wage, overtime pay, and leave pay while he is  being held hostaged in Somalia. This is because in essence his contract has not yet been terminated until he has returned back to Philippine soil. However, Ceprado's case might not fall under this double pay scheme since the incident occured in an area not within the declared high risk zone by the POEA.

On January 28, 2010, the POEA issued memorandum circular no. 02, series of 2010, which required seafarers to be deployed to undergo anti-piracy awareness training seminar on practical measures to avoid, deter, or delay piracy attacks as a requirement for the processing of their contract. The course will teach seafarers how to detect approaching pirates and who to communicate with in case of an attack. This, however, will be at no cost to the seafarers.

The Philippines has also been recently admitted as member of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.  The CGPCS was established on Jan. 14, 2009 pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1851 to facilitate discussion and coordination of action among member-states and organizations to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia.  Apart from 50 member-states, members of the Contact Group are the African Union, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the International Maritime Organization and the UN Secretariat. It operates in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia covering an area of approximately 1.1 million square miles.

An International Recommended Transit Corridor was later  set up on  February 2009  to protect ships travelling through the Gulf of Aden. In this area, navies from the European Union, China, Russia, India and other nations escort ships and respond to distress calls from vessels under attack. The POEA issued guidelines requiring shipowners, principals, managers, and manning agencies to ensure that vessels with Filipino seafarers should pass only within this declared maritime security patrol area in the Gulf of Aden.

                         In the midst of the pircay issues are the wives and families of these seafarers who suffer from poor, or sometimes non-existent, information about what is being done to protect their loved ones or to secure their release.The International Committee on Seafarers Welfare (ICSW) has been actively conducting   Piracy Awareness seminars for the maritime community focusing on post-traumatic stress reactions and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, taking into account cultural issues, in particular in dealing with distressed family members in incidents which involve their family members. The seminars aimed to enhance the understanding of the complex, comprehensive and changing psychosocial needs created in the aftermath of a critical incident.

            Since the Philippines supplies a third of the world’s seafarers’ population, it will remain as  among the most adversely affected and seriously alarmed by incidences of piracy in the Somali basin and the Gulf of Aden. And hopefully, with the series of protective and preventive measures devised by both the government and private sector, no further bad news will follow the recent death of Filipino seafarer Christopher Cortez Ceprado.