DMW adds hotlines for endangered seafarers

UNDETERRED BY DANGER The Filipino crewmen of the True Confidence arrive after their experience in the Gulf of Aden. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Onboard Filipino seafarers who may want to exercise their right to refuse service in a vessel that is sailing through “warlike zone,” like the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, can report directly to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) while they are at sea.

The DMW designated +63287221144 and +63287221155 as hotlines for such seafarers, in addition to the +6321348 One Repatriation Command Center.

Seafarers may also send pertinent documents to the DMW through email at [email protected] if they will sign the document, “confirmation of refusal to traverse the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden and/or other warlike and high-risk zone.”

The refusal document has to be submitted to the licensed manning agencies (LMAs) and the principal or employer.

“Allow seafarers to freely decide to refuse sailing in the said areas/zones without discrimination and prejudice to their present and future employment,” Hans Cacdac, officer in charge of DMW, ordered LMAs through Department Order No. 01 series of 2024 issued on March 30.

Cacdac required manning agencies to inform Filipino seafarers who are about to embark on voyages through warlike zones of their rights and entitlements should they consent to continue with their voyage, to help them make “informed decisions.”

“Ensure the immediate and safe repatriation of seafarers who will invoke their right to refuse sailing in said areas/zones,” Cacdac added.

He told LMAs to deem a “refusal to sail” as a “significant event” and report within 24 hours to the DMW’s sea-based accreditation bureau through email at [email protected] any refusal to sail.

So far, no Filipino seafarers have been reported to refuse sailing into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including the 15 Filipino crew members of the missile-hit bulk carrier MV True Confidence, according to the DMW.

The missile attack from Yemen’s Houthis on March 6 killed three crew members—two of them Filipinos—and seriously injured two Filipino crew members.

There have been three incidents in war zones involving Filipinos.

The first was the seizure of the car carrier M/V Galaxy Leader, which was seized last Nov. 19 in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels along with 17 Filipino crew members. The vessel and its crew remain in the custody of Houthi rebels.

READ: DMW assures seafarers’ right to refuse deployment to high-risk areas

The second incident involved the Iranian Navy’s seizure of the oil tanker M/V Saint Nikolas along with 18 Filipino seafarers. Twelve of the 18 were repatriated early March, but six remain in Iranian custody, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The third incident involved the bulk carrier M/V True Confidence that had 13 Filipino crewmen. Two of the Filipinos, plus one Vietnamese, crew were killed in a Houthi missile attack in the Red Sea, the first fatalities in the ongoing Red Sea crisis. INQ