THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Thursday the release of the 19 crew members, including 15 Filipinos, onboard the Japanese operated Panama-flagged chemical tanker MT Irene in the waters of Somalia.

Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos said the 19 seamen were freed by the Somali pirates past midnight on Wednesday (Manila time) and they are now heading toward Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates.

The latest release brings down to 67 the number of Filipino seamen still held captive by Somali pirates.

A total of 97 Filipino seamen were kidnapped in the last two months in the pirate-infested Somali waters. Last week 15 of them have been released separately.

“All crew member are safe,” said Conejos.

“The DFA is now coordinating with the shipowners for the repatriation of the Filipino seamen.”

The DFA identified the released Filipino seamen from MT Irene as Noel Estrella of Iloilo, Darwin Enraca of Cavite, Pedro Mucas of Iloilo, Joey Caballero of Pangasinan, Pepe de la Cruz of Cavite, Joel Cepeda of Bacolod, Marlon Cariño of Isabela, Vicente Panopio of Batangas, Cyrus Briton of Bacolod, Sorrton Bolas of Benguet, Esteban Abecia of Cagayan de Oro, Edgar Asoque of Leyte, Anthony Apon of Cavite, Isidro San Diego of Bulacan and Danilo Labaro of Pangasinan.

Conejos said MT Irene was hijacked by pirates on August 21 in the Gulf of Aden.

Last week the foreign affairs department announced the release of 15 kidnapped Filipino seamen including the one who was killed during the pirates’ takeover of his ship.

Nine of the freed Filipino seamen are crew members of Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Melati 2  that has a 38-man crew. These include Jayson Dumagat, who was killed.

Another Malaysian tanker, MT Bunga Melati 5 along with its 41 crew, that include five Filipino seamen, were also released in late September.

A total of three out of the eight hijacked ships have been released by the Somali pirates. The DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment have earlier negotiated with foreign ship owners not to allow their vessels carrying Filipino seamen to cross the pirate-infested waters of Somalia to prevent Filipino seamen from being held hostage.

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Somali pirates free 15 Filipino seamen

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Thursday the release of the 19 crew members, including 15 Filipinos, onboard the Japanese operated Panama-flagged chemical tanker MT Irene in the waters of Somalia.

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