19 Filipinos on hijacked Saudi tanker

Pirates seek ransom for seized ship

DUBAI -- (UPDATE) Somali pirates who hijacked the Saudi oil supertanker Sirius Star have demanded a ransom, a man presented on Al-Jazeera television as one of the authors of the attack said Wednesday.

In Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that 19 of the 25 crew members of the supertanker hijacked off Kenya's coast last Saturday are Filipinos.

The hijacking brings to 127 the number of Filipino seamen in Somali pirates' hands.

"Negotiators are located on board the ship and on land. Once they have agreed on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker," said the man identified as Farah Abd Jameh, who did not indicate the amount to be paid.

The vessel, the size of three football pitches, is carrying two million barrels of crude oil worth as much as $100 million dollars.

The largest ship ever to be seized by pirates, it was headed for the Somali port of Eyl, according to the US Navy.

Sirius Star, which is owned by Saudi giant oil company Aramco, also carries crew members from Croatia, Britain, Poland and Saudi Arabia, said a US Navy statement.

Citing reports from the Philippine embassy in Nairobi, Crescente Relacion, executive director of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, said the hijacking of the Sirius Star happened some 450 miles southeast of the Kenyan coast, away from the declared danger area in Gulf of Aden.

"All crew members are reported unharmed," he said.

Relacion said the DFA has instructed the Philippine embassies in Nairobi, Manama, and Riyadh, and the Philippine consulate general in Dubai to coordinate with ship owners and international maritime authorities on efforts to secure safe release of crew and vessel.

The 108 other Filipinos held captive by pirates are crewmen form six hijacked vessels: M/T Centauri, which was hijacked September 17, with 26 Filipinos; M/T Captain Stefanos, September 21, with 17; M/T African Sanderling, October 15, with 21; M/T Stolt Strength, November 10, with 23; F/B Tianyu #8, November 14, with three; and M/V Chemstar Venus, November 16, with 18. - Veronica Uy, Agence France-Presse INQUIRER.net, November 19, 2008