AUTHORITIES in Sierra Leone detained 10 Filipino seamen early this month when their Benin-bound ship was forced to stop after it ran out of oil and fresh water, a source said yesterday.

Police and Navy personnel in the West African country held the vessel on suspicion it was carrying contraband or drugs, said Reginald Pastrana, a Filipino working as a consultant in Sierra Leone’s Parliament.

“They have been in detention for 19 days now,” Pastrana, who used to work in the Philippine Senate, told a Senate official.

He said their ship was owned by an Athens-based Greek company, Rivale Martime Corp., and its maritime agent was Makati-based Sea Gem Maritime International.

“Their morale is very low,” Pastrana said in an e-mail to Standard Today.

“Oftentimes, they have no food to eat.” Fel V. Maragay