A group of 18 Filipino seamen have been seized by pirates who hijacked a Greek ship off the Somalia coast, bringing to 89 the total number of Filipino seafarers in captive in the dangerous waters of Gulf of Aden, the Philippine government said on Friday.

The 9,000-ton Greek-owned Nipayia were hijacked by pirates in the afternoon of March 25. Another seaman of undetermined nationality was also on board the vessel, the Department of Foreign Affairs said, citing reports from the US 5th Fleet, which patrolled near the troubled waters in eastern Africa.

Four other vessels with 71 Filipinos remain anchored in Somalia, the government said.

As a policy, Manila does not negotiate with kidnappers and has ruled out the payment of ransom to secure the release of abducted Filipino sailors.

However it is publicly known in the past that shipping companies pay huge amounts to ransom off their crewmen that include dozens of Filipinos.

The Philippines supplies a third of all of the world's sailors. The 350,000 Filipino sailors man major oil tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels around the world.

The government has been in a dilemma on how to provide protection. It says banning Filipinos from certain risky regions would be difficult because of the rapid mobility of the sailors and its lack of ability to monitor their movement.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2009)