Twenty-free Philippine sailors abducted more than five months ago by Somali pirates returned home yesterday for an emotional reunion with their families.
Looking haggard but relieved, and led by their captain Abelardo Pacheco, the crew of the Philippine-flagged MT Stolt Strength was reunited with their families at Manila’s international airport.
The vessel and its crew were released on April 21, ending a 162-day ordeal during which Pacheco said they survived on prayer and constantly feared for their lives.
PHOTO: AFP
“Daily life was always a combination of fear and helplessness, hopelessness. It was the most negative feeling one could experience,” said a teary-eyed Pacheco, 62.
He said “there were many attempts” made against the crew’s lives as representatives of their vessel’s owner, Sagana Shipping, negotiated a ransom.
He said the pirates had threatened to shoot them if they tried to escape and that there were times he had to put himself between his crew and the gunmen.
PHOTO: REUTERS
For second mate Roel de Guzman, the ordeal was a lesson in faith. He said he feared he would never again see his wife, Vilma, and their four children, aged eight to 16.
“But we prayed hard and we were not forgotten,” De Guzman said, as he tightly held his wife, who had waited for hours in the airport lobby.
Vilma de Guzman said that, while her family relied solely on her husband’s salary for their income, she would not allow him to work again on a ship that may pass through Somali waters.
“I don’t want to go through that uncertainty again,” she said.
After it was released, the Stolt Strength’s ordeal did not end immediately, with pirates targeting the vessel for a second time after it ran out of fuel and drifted off the eastern coast of Somalia.
US and German navy vessels came to its aid, providing fuel, food and medicine but eventually had to leave on another mission.
“We were left behind unguarded, unprotected,” Pacheco said. “There was obvious fear, apprehension on our side because we had just been released. It was the most dreadful moment of our lives.”
A Chinese frigate later escorted the 32,400-tonne Stolt Strength to safety.
Filipino officials later said the Chinese had prevented a second attempt by pirates to board the vessel.
Pacheco, a maritime veteran with 41 years’ sailing experience, said he planned to take a long vacation and assess his future.
“I was born a seaman. I will never turn my back on the call of the sea, but prudence dictates that I have to think twice,” he said.
Dexter Custodio, a spokesman for Sagana Shipping, confirmed that a ransom had been paid, although he declined to say how much it was.
“We were very relieved that our crew was not harmed in any way,” Custodio said. “We join our crew in this joyous homecoming.”
The release of the Stolt Strength, one of the ships held longest by Somali pirates, has raised hopes for dozens of other kidnapped Philippine sailors that remain in pirates’ hands.
“We still have about 88 Filipino seamen aboard seven ships who are still being held hostage in Somalia,” Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said.
Conejos added that securing the Stolt Strength’s release had been the “most difficult” negotiation the Philippines had encountered with the pirates so far.
The Philippines is the world’s biggest supplier of sailors, with over 350,000 sailors manning oil tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels worldwide.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number