SOMALI pirates released two South Korean-owned vessels and their 24 Asian crew members who had been held in waters off the Horn of Africa since May, the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) reported, citing the US Navy.

The two boats were escorted to safe waters Sunday by the Navy, the broadcaster said on its Web site. Naval personnel boarded the vessels and gave the crew medical checkups, the BBC cited US spokesman Commander Lydia Robertson as saying.

The crew members included 10 Chinese, four South Koreans, three Vietnamese, three Indians and four Indonesians, the BBC said.

The Navy told pirates holding three other ships to leave the vessels and return to Somalia, the BBC cited Robertson as saying. The waters off Somalia are close to key shipping lanes and vessels in the area are regularly targeted by pirates, the BBC said.

Meanwhile, a recent hijacking off the coast of Somalia by pirates was also reported.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said last week that the nine Filipinos onboard the Japanese-owned chemical tanker were “unharmed”.

The Philippine government is working with the owners of the vessel, the Japanese government, international shipping authorities and the local agency that recruited the Filipino workers to ensure the safe release of the crew of the vessel Golden Nori, Conejos said.

Somalia and Nigeria had 26 pirate attacks so far this year, more than anywhere else in the world, according to data from the International Maritime Bureau.---Bloomberg

Mindanao shippers group wants ports development rushed to break bottleneck

A GROUP of shippers from Mindanao has asked the government to fasttrack the expansion and redevelopment of the three major ports the southern part of the country as they experience bottlenecks due to shallow waters and other infrastructure problems.

INTERCOMMERCE Network Service Inc.(INS), one of the value added service providers of the Bureau of Customs, said it will start accepting payments online by December, a move seen to increase its market share among customs brokers and other shippers.

SOMALI pirates released two South Korean-owned vessels and their 24 Asian crew members who had been held in waters off the Horn of Africa since May, the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) reported, citing the US Navy.