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Mission to Seafarers Manila supports seafarer shot by pirates

Mission to Seafarers Manila supports seafarer shot by pirates
The Mission to Seafarers Manila has extended support to a Filipino seafarer after he was shot during a pirate attack onboard an oil tanker.

Second mate Edwin Acasio and the crew of Leon Diaz were transiting the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria when they were boarded and held hostage by pirates.

Acasio was shot and seriously injured during the attack, and sent to intensive care treatment at a hospital in Benin.

The Mission to Seafarers, working in partnership with the Philippine Independent Church (IFI), provided help and advice to the crew members and their families.

Stephen Miller, regional director for the Mission to Seafarers in East Asia, said: “This partnership with the IFI in Manila is already proving to be crucial to ensure that the welfare needs of seafarers and their families are met all over the world.

“This is a tragic case and highlights the fact that there is a very real and present danger of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, which the mission continues to monitor.”