DFA working on release of 7 detained seafarers in Libya

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said it is exerting all efforts to secure the release of seven Filipino seafarers in Libya detained for alleged fuel smuggling.

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Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr., according to the DFA, appealed to Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Lufti Al-Maghrabi for the release of the detained seafarers.

Locsin met with the Libyan official on the sidelines of the Global Compact for Migration meeting in Morocco last month.

The DFA added that the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli under Charge d’Affaires Mardomel Celo Melicor recently visited the seven and has retained the services of a lawyer to represent them in court.

The seven seafarers were among 20 Filipino crew members of the Liberian-flagged MV Levant who were taken into custody by the Libyan Coast Guard in August 2017 on suspicion of fuel smuggling.

Libyan authorities assured the embassy that the seven jailed seafarers are in good health, the DFA added. /gsg