RI SAILORS ON FOREIGN SHIPS ADVISED TO INSURE THEMSELVES

Jakarta, Jan 29 (ANTARA) - The Foreign Ministry in Jakarta has warned Indonesians intending to work on foreign vessels to insure themselves properly and know in advance their ships' sailing routes.

Sailors also needed to understand the real security situation on the waters their ships would traverse, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tengku Faizasyah told newsmen here Friday.

"When signing their work contracts, sailors need to know the exact routes of their ships. If they pass waters that are vulnerable to pirate attacks, they must have insurance," he said.

The foreign ministry had been in coordination with other ministries to ensure that Indonesians intending to work on foreign vessels had enough knowledge about the world's dangerous sailing routes, he said.

Asked about the negotiation process to secure the release of 17 Indonesians on board MT Pramoni from the hands of Somali pirates, Faizasyah said efforts to free them were continuing.
The foreign ministry in Jakarta was making the efforts in coordination with the Indonesian representative office in Somalia and the vessel's owner, he said.

"We are also coordinating with governments whose citizens were also abducted by the pirates to make sure that the vessel's owner is seriously working to get the abducted crews released," he said.

The Indonesians were taken hostage by Somali pirates who hijacked their cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden on January 1, 2010.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirate attacks around the world had surged 38.5 percent in 2009.

The Somali pirates were allegedly involved in more than a half of the 406 reported incidents.

The Kuala Lumpur-based bureau reported that the Somali pirates had not only captured dozens of ships and taken hundreds of hostages, but also collected millions of dollars in ransom.