A Greek manning agency that provides jobs for Filipino seafarers is seeking the help of pertinent Philippine government agencies for its eight Filipino crew members who have been held in an Algerian jail since last July without any charges.
In a statement sent to DAILY TRIBUNE on Thursday, Capt. Edgardo Flores, former owner representative and now consultant of Eastern Mediterranean Manning Agency Philippines, said the eight Filipinos, whose names were withheld on the request of their families, were held under custody by Algerian police on 28 July.
The statement was signed by Captain Spyridon Pierratos, marine personnel manager of Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Limited.
According to the statement, the seafarers were arrested after Algiers police discovered 35.8 kilograms of alleged cocaine on board Harris, a Maltese-flagged container vessel.
"At this stage, there are no charges raised by the prosecutor against any of the eight crewmembers. We understand that they are detained pending the completion of an investigation. Nevertheless, they are detained at a detention center in the same cell as other inmates," Pierratos said.
Flores said the vessel originated from a port in Valletta, Malta, sometime in July 2023.
"Normally, drug syndicates use stevedores who discreetly place the substance into the cargo," he said.
Stevedores are persons employed or contractors at a dock to load and unload cargo from ships.
Crewmembers hidden?
Pierratos said the Filipinos had not been allowed to contact their families or any other person apart from their lawyer.
"They have not been allowed to meet our company's representatives who traveled to Algeria to meet them. They have not been allowed to meet representatives of the Philippine Embassy in Libya who traveled to Algeria to meet them. The jurisdiction was that no notice has been made to the Algerian Ministry of Justice, whereas we understand that such request has been conveyed to the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the statement read.
The company official maintained that the crew members had clean records and were not involved in any acts that would have merited disciplinary measures during their employment.
"There had been no suspicions or indication that they may have been involved in any malicious or criminal activity," Pierratos said.
He said the vessel had no previous call in Algiers or any other port in Algeria, and the eight seamen had no recorded connections or previous presence there.
"The charterers of the vessel gave instructions to the vessel to call Algiers only some days prior to her arrival," he said.
Phl intervention
Asked what intervention they would take on the case, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Arnel Ignacio said they would forward the case to the Department of Migrant Workers, as it is a criminal case.
"DMW has the jurisdiction over the case because it's a criminal case, and I can only look into it and forward the case to them. The action should come to them (DMW)," Ignacio told DAILY TRIBUNE.
DAILY TRIBUNE tried to get comments from the DMW but failed.