By Marita Moaje
MANILA – Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac on Thursday assured that all Filipino crew members aboard two vessels attacked in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, are safe and being moved to safer ports.
In a radio interview, Cacdac said three cargo ships were hit by projectiles believed to be launched by Iran.
“For the last 48 hours nabalita naman ito sa international media na may tatlong ships na inatake sa Persian Gulf, by projectiles or unknown object. Dalawa sa tatlong ships na yun may Pilipino (this was reported in the international media that three ships were attacked in the Persian Gulf, by projectiles or an unknown object. Two out of those three ships have Filipinos,” Cacdac said.
“Yung isang barko may 21 crew, they are all safe, Filipino crew. Yung isa may (One of the ships has 21 crew members, they are all safe, Filipino crew. The other one has) 17 Filipino crew and they are all safe, they are being transported to a safer port at the moment,” he added.
Cacdac said the other ship was a Thailand-flagged ship and had no Filipino crew.
Currently, he said the DMW is monitoring a total of 7,313 Filipino seafarers aboard vessels near and around the conflict areas in the Middle East region.
He, however, said all these Filipino crew members are marked safe and accounted for.
Meanwhile, Cacdac said that search operations continue for a Filipino crew member reported missing after a tugboat he was in was struck by a missile on its way to assist a distressed vessel also in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Patuloy pa rin ang paghahanap at merong mga nahanap dun sa tugboat na tinamaan ng missile pero hindi siya (The search is still ongoing, there were crew found on the tugboat that was hit by the missile, but it wasn’t him),” he said.
He also assured that, as directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., DMW and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) teams had already visited the family of the missing seafarer for support and assistance.
He said an ongoing investigation is being conducted on the incident, including the ship owner.
“Yung shipowner kasi ay hindi narehistro yung ating tripulante dito sa talaan natin, so that’s one offense in itself. So anyway, ito ang pagsusuri natin. Siguro sa tamang panahon natin i-issue ang final investigation, dito muna tayo sa pag-antabay sa search and rescue operations at yung pagbibigay ng assistance sa pamilya (The shipowner didn’t register our crew member in our records, so that’s one offense in itself. So anyway, this is our assessment. We will issue the final investigation at the right time. For now, let’s focus on monitoring the search and rescue operations and providing assistance to the family),” he added.
Cacdac also urged shipowners and manning agencies to ensure the protection of Filipino seafarers, particularly their right to refuse sailing in high-risk and war-like areas, including the Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
He said these conditions are under the International Bargaining Forum and approved by international maritime labor stakeholders. (PNA)
