Byline: CHARISSA M. LUCI

The Philippines yesterday thanked the French government for effecting the safe and immediate release of six Filipino seafarers held hostage along with 24 other crewmembers of the hijacked French-registered leisure craft Le Ponant.

Foreign Affairs spokesman

"Secretary Alberto Romulo expressed Philippine government's gratitude to France for the quick action and resolution of the case," he said.

The DFA yesterday announced the safe release of six Filipino workers, including a female cabin steward, who were abducted, along with French nationals by an unidentified armed group in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen.

The Philippine embassy in Paris made the confirmation of yesterday's release in a report to Romulo.

"All crewmembers of the hijacked vessel, including six Filipino seamen, have been freed," Cristobal said.

"The French Foreign Ministry informed the embassy this morning (Paris time) that all 30 crewmembers are in good physical condition and now in the custody and care of the French marines," Cristobal said.

France has a foreign military base in nearby Djibouti.

He said the embassy is in close contact with the French authorities for the repatriation of the Filipino workers.

The six OFWs were among the 30 crew members of the 850-ton French vessel, which was hijacked while on its way to the Red Sea from the Suez Canal.

The cruise ship with a capacity of 90 persons was supposed to pick up passengers from Alexandria in Egypt and sail towards Malta when the hijacking happened.

Le Ponant is believed to have anchored off the northeast coast of Somalia.

Somalia has not had a functional government after the downfall of the warlord Sia Barre in 1991.

War-torn Somalia has since fallen into the hands of warring clans and sub-clans, and their armed militias with some of these militias carrying out numerous hijackings of ships entering Somali territorial waters.