|
A HARROWING
ORDEAL 23 Pinoy seafarers survive 18-day hostage drama in IT WAS a
scene straight from a Chuck Norris or a Steven Segal movie. There were
frightened hostages at the end of the hostage-takers’ gun barrels. There
were negotiations. A good fellow from the villains’ side appears and ease
the angst of the victims. A brave little fellow from among the hostages makes a
bold move and tells outside parties of the situation. Kevin Spacey comes in as
a negotiator. Guns were silent, only the muted conversations between the
negotiators fill the air. Money moves from hand to hand. Hostage-takers
disembark from the ship to claim their prize. The victims were made to continue
with their voyage as if nothing happened, except the head shaving. End of
drama. But for
the crew of M/V Panagia, shaving their heads to express their gratitude to God
for making them live, it’s just the beginning of the ordeal.
They have
been held at gun’s point for 18 days by desperate gunmen who knew better
than use their AK-47s. Demanding ransom from the owner of the ship, the jittery
gunmen were ready to squeeze the trigger of their guns at the slightest
provocation. The threat was not from shouting villains but from uninitiated
gunmen who are also hostages, hostages to the power of their guns.
Then
there were media riders who wanted to bandwagon the hostage-taking. But the
captain of the ship, their manning agent in As the
drama unfolded, only the hostages and their agent, including the shipowner,
were in a state of bated breaths. They shared a torment that could break
ordinary mortals. They took risks that would have cost the lives of the
hostages and immeasurable grief to their loved ones. Such is
the drama surrounding the 18-day ordeal of the all-Filipino crew M/V Panagia.
Men pushed to the limits, gunmen worshipping only money, shipping agents cool
under fire, and a shipowner who would not balk at his responsibility whenever
money is involved.
ENGINE TROUBLE On June
14, 2002, Cypriot flag vessel M/V Panagia Tinou was on a voyage to “We
were sailing along the “One
of the piston rings was broken, and it was impossible to find the real cause of
the problem and do the repairs unless we stop,” says C/E Pillado.
“The
intention was to find a place where the waters are calm since there was heavy
swell coming from southeast of our position, and stay far away from the coast
as possible given that the place was known to be occupied by armed men,”
explains Capt. Barete. Once the
initial inspections were finished, C/E Pillado discovered that three of the
four cylinders had to be replaced and estimated that the repairs would take 14
to 16 hours. Changing the engine parts started at around eight that night and
went on smoothly till the early morning of June 15. “It
was about 8:00 am (ship’s time) and I had just reported to Port Capt.
Nicos Lefakis telling him that everything was normal, and that the repairs
would be completed within a couple of hours,” says Barete.
Aware of
the fact that HIJACKED The
weather remained calm and there were no signs of any activity from any small
boats or other local ships in the area until about 1:40 pm (local time).
“When
I first saw two small vessels approaching, I didn’t think they were
pirates, after all sino ba naman ang a-attack ng tanghaling tapat? But when
they came nearer, I saw the guns and they were starting to aim at me,”
narrates Barete. The
pirates then started shooting at Capt. Barete who was standing near the bridge
wing, as their twelve companions boarded the ship on the portside using a
makeshift ladder. A second boat meanwhile was standing by about 100 meters away
from the ship. Using the public address system, Capt. Barete asked the intruders
to identify themselves and state what they wanted from the ship. The only
response he got, however, were more gunshots. A number
of pirates ran quickly across the deck towards hatch No. 4 firing at the bridge
with an automatic rifle. They stopped near the No. 4 hold firing against the
bridge. Three pirates ran towards the bridge from the port side and came up the
accommodation ladder and took over the bridge. One of
the pirates who could speak garbled English demanded that they assemble in the
boat deck. “As we were escorted down on the funnel deck I turned to show
one of them the rest of the crew who were working in the engine room, instead
of looking down however he immediately swung his rifle towards me,” the
captain said. Sensing
that the pirate was going to pull the trigger, Barete ducked just in time
before a shot rang out. “Buti na lang nakapanood tayo ng Jet Li at
nakayuko ako kaagad kundi wala ka nang ini-interview ngayon,” says
Barete. After
gathering the all 23 crewmembers, several of the pirates escorted Barete back
to his cabin. Two of them went inside, took his passport and demanded money.
Barete gave them all the ships cash amounting to $10,500, hoping that they
would leave the vessel. Instead the two pirates told him to keep it secret.
“They
told me to keep my mouth shut and not to tell their companions that I gave them
money,” says Barete. The crew
was then gathered inside the mess hall while the pirates stood guard and asked
them why the ship stopped in their vicinity. C/E
Pillado explained the situation and asked that they be allowed to finish their
work. The pirates obliged saying that they were only interested with the
shipowner and that they wouldn’t harm us unless we try to fight back,
relates Pillado. “Together
with my five men, we were able to finish all the necessary repairs that same
day,” the chief engineer said. Capt.
Barete described the pirates as tall dark-skinned men who looked quite
malnourished. “They
were very thin and wore ragged clothes. Most of them were even bare-footed. It
also seemed that it was their very first time to do something like this as some
of them were excited and amazed as they looked around the ship,” he said.
“And though they didn’t look like killers, the scary thing was that
they were always pointing their AK-47s at us. We also noticed that they were
quite inexperienced with guns as there were several “shooting”
incidents with one of the pirates accidentally hitting his foot! We were very
careful not to provoke them because there was a big possibility that they would
immediately fire their guns if we made one wrong move,” he narrated.
‘DARK ANGEL’ For two
days, the crew of MV Panagia Tinou had no idea as to the identities of the
pirates and why they were detained. It was only on the third day when the
pirates informed them that one of their leaders was coming.
“On
the third day, we were once again gathered and informed that their leader would
be arriving,” narrates Barete. “But instead of the burly
sinister-looking boss we were expecting another frail looking Somalian
arrived.” The man
who spoke fluent English introduced himself as Abder-Raseed, an ex-seaman, and
he promised to be their guardian. “He
told us that he will be negotiating for our lives and that it was his duty to
protect us since we were in their territory,” says Barete.
Abder
informed us that their group was one of the coastal guardians of Unlike
the other pirates, Abder had no gun and though he was a Muslim he had no qualms
about protecting the crew from his companions. “There
was one instance when another group threatened to board the ship. Abder
immediately ordered his companions to stay on guard and prevent the other group
from boarding the ship. And when the pirates tried to rob us of our
belongings, Abder berated his companions. Because of Abder, the crew remained
unharmed. He served as our translator and our guardian angel throughout the
ordeal,” said Barete. SECRET CALLS From the
time they boarded, all ship communications were taken over by the pirates. Even
the use of telex was prohibited unless the pirates wanted to send a message.
Luckily, Capt. Barete found a way to communicate and inform their office of the
ship’s condition. “When
the pirates first asked me if there were any telephones aboard the ship, I said
that the telex was our only means of communication. It was a good thing they
didn’t search my cabin thoroughly so I was able to hide my phone,”
recounts the captain. “As soon as I got the chance, I immediately called
our office in “I
first heard the news from our crewing manager. That was before I was able to
actually talk to Capt. Barete,” narrates Ms. Fuentes. “He told me
that the entire crew was placed inside the mess hall during the day and was
heavily guarded. The only way he was able to call at night was through his
cabin phone which he secretly hid from the pirates.” Every
night, as soon as they were taken to their cabins, Capt. Barete would call
their offices and update them of their condition. The crew’s wives,
meanwhile, formed a phone brigade and relayed crucial information on the
situation of their loved ones. “It
was very risky,” says Capt. Barete, “I had to speak in a very low
voice so that the guards staying next to my cabin would not hear me talking and
get suspicious. I knew it was dangerous, and that they would kill me if
they’d discover my secret calls, but it was the only way to assure our
loved ones that we were okay and that we were still alive. Paano ba naman kasi
may nagkakalat na pinagtatali na raw kami at tino-torture.”
All
throughout the crisis, Barete requested for a total news blackout. “I
told our office to keep the situation a secret lest we risk the discovery of
our secret communications system. If there is a news leak and the pirates learn
about it, they might not only increase the ransom they are demanding, they
might also become more restless and hurt us,” he said, adding that
“the pirates were monitoring the news and there was an instance when they
heard that German warships were in the area in search of a vessel which was
allegedly taken over by the Al Qaeda terrorist group.”
That was
when the situation became tense and Barete and 18 other crewmembers were
brought to the shore. “I thought that was the end,” he said.
“When we learned that we were going to be brought to shore, I made one
last call to our office and informed them. They too thought that we won’t
be able to return.” RANSOM The
pirates demanded a $500,000-ransom for the crew’s release. And though the
shipowner was willing to pay, the problem was how and where to deliver
it. Because
of the constant calls by Capt. Barete, the shipowners were able to seek
assistance from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Negotiations were done
using telex but the pirates kept giving false telephone numbers to the
IMB. After several tries, the negotiators were able to find a certain
Somalian in The
payment was then deposited to a bank in Bossaso under a name specified by the
pirates. FREE AGAIN On July
3, as soon as the ransom was received, the pirates were told by their leaders
to immediately disembark the ship ending the 18-day captivity of the Filipino
crew. As a sign
of new life the whole crew decided to shave their heads. “We felt reborn,
says Capt. Barete. Because of the ordeal we became closer to God as we prayed
everyday for our safety. In a way we also became stronger. We are just like
soldiers and we should be prepared for situations like this because it can
happen. Hindi mo pwedeng sabihin ayaw ko na at baka ma-hostage kami ulit. Life
goes on and we have learned a lot from that experience. According
to Philippine Claims and Compensation Committee Secretariat Sec. Gen Bayani
Mangibin, the real heroes of the Panagia Tinou are the Barete, the shipowner
Samios, and the manning agency Skippers United. Mangibin
was the acting Undersecretary for Migrant Workers at that time. Mangibin
also commended the efforts of Ambassador to London Cesar Bautista, and Deputy
permanent representative to the United Nations Ricky Manalo. JALESVEVA YAYAMAHE
SPONSORED LINKS
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
|
