VOA标准英语 Filipino Seafarers Top Victims of Somali Pirates

At least 80 Filipino seafarers are being held hostage by Somali pirates - the highest number from any nation. The Philippine government has banned ships carrying Filipino crew members from sailing near Somalia. But as Heda Bayron reports from Manila, piracy¹ is unlikely to stop Filipino sailors from plying² the treacherous³ route.
　
Wives of Filipino sailors show pictures of their husbands Carlo, left, and Rodell,who are in Somali pirates' hand, in Manila, Philippines (File)

Until last week, Somali pirates were holding Catherine Boretta's husband. She has been distraught about his condition, after he had been reported to have been injured by a stray bullet. The chemical tanker⁴ the Philippine citizen was working on, the MT Stolt Strength, was captured in November on its way to India from Senegal.

But after negotiations⁵ between the pirates and the ship's owners, reportedly with ransom⁶ paid, Rodell Boretta and his shipmates are returning home.

But at least 80 Filipino seafarers are still in the hands of Somali pirates. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo⁷ has pressed for more international efforts to secure their release and ordered staffing agencies to ensure that ships carrying Filipino seafarers stay at least 200 nautical⁸ miles off Somalia, a country which has not had a functioning government since 1991.

But Nelson Ramirez, spokesman of the Union of Filipino Seafarers, calls the ban absurd.

"It's just for show. They didn't even study the map," said Ramirez. "They didn't ask the labor⁹ unions, the seafarers, how is it possible. They sail about 200 miles off Somalia's coast; the pirates are going about 350 miles off Somalia's coast. If someone would violate that one, who are they going to penalize¹⁰? Are they going to penalize the seamen¹¹? The ship owner? Are they going to penalize the manning agency?"

Ramirez says the policy is a knee-jerk reaction by the government, which has been criticized for doing little to help free the Filipino hostages. He says the government has left it to the ship owners to negotiate for the seafarers' freedom.

Cabinet Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita acknowledged government's role has been limited. He says negotiations between the pirates and the ship owners have been more successful.

"Our experience has been that we have not had any casualty from among those kidnapped by the Somali pirates," said Ermita. "So far there have been a lot of successes in the negotiations by the manning agencies and the ship owners."

The International Maritime¹² Bureau says pirate attacks off the Somali coast increased to 102 from 53 in the first three months of this year.

Navy ships from the United States, France, China and other countries have been patrolling international waters off Somalia to ensure the safe passage of ships. Earlier this month, U.S. Navy SEALS freed an American captain and arrested a Somali pirate now under federal custody¹³ in the United States.

Ermita says the Philippines will cooperate with any United Nations action on piracy. But the Philippine navy has limited capability¹⁴ to help in the patrols - it is already hard pressed to patrol the country's 7,100 islands.

"At the moment there are no planned or contemplated¹⁵ actions as strong as being done by other countries such as what the French and the U.S. governments have done to rescue their citizens involved in hijackings in Somalia," added Ermita. "We will just continue with the present action of actively¹⁶ looking at the plight¹⁷ of our Filipino seamen and we hope that in our little way we would be able to contribute to hastening the recovery of the seamen."

Ramirez of the Union of Filipino Seafarers says piracy is unlikely to stop Filipinos from working on ships sailing these treacherous waters.

"I have talked to the seafarers themselves who have been hostaged [held hostage] and I told them will you be sailing again? And they said yes, they will. In the near future, there will be more naval¹⁸ vessels¹⁹ that will be protecting them," said Ramirez.

Moreover, seafarers earn more overseas than in the Philippines and there are few jobs at home for the estimated half a million registered Filipino sailors.

For the MT Stolt Strength, its staffing agency says it is willing to keep hiring Filipino crews, as long as they choose to continue sailing.

1 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

2 plying   

v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意

参考例句：

• All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rather Mrs. Wang who led the conversation, plying Miss Liu with questions. 倒是汪太太谈锋甚健，向刘小姐问长问短。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

4 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

7 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

8 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

11 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

12 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

13 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

14 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

15 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

16 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

17 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

18 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

19 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》