(Update) DFA to confirm if Pinoys were in hijacked ship in Somalia

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday afternoon said it is still verifying reports that a Filipino crew were on board a hijacked freighter off the coast of Somalia.

DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal told GMANews.TV in a telephone interview that they are still confirming the presence of the Filipinos in the ship.

The Associated Press reported that pirates hijacked a Dutch-owned freighter crewed by four Russians and five Filipinos.

Spokesman Lars Walder of Reider Shipping BV said that his company has contact with the hijackers and "as far as we know none of the crew has been injured or worse."

The ship, the MV Amiya Scan, sails under a Panamanian flag. It departed Kenya on May 19 on its way to Romania and was reported hijacked Monday night.

Its cargo was a decommissioned oil platform.

Walder said his company, based in the far northern town of Winschoten, Netherlands, would not comment on the pirates' demands out of concern for the safety of the crew. - with a report from AP, Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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