Bodies of two Filipino sailors found in North Sea

DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Friday that two bodies recovered in the North Sea on Monday were those of two Filipino seamen reported missing after a maritime collision.

DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the Philippine Embassy in The Hague has already informed the seamen’s families. Nonetheless the foreign office withheld their names.

“Repatriation procedures will now be undertaken,” Hernandez said in a statement.

The two Filipinos were among three crewmen of the Maria, a ship deployed to guard an oil drilling platform off the Dutch navy port, who were reported missing after their vessel collided with a trawler early Monday. The fate of the third seaman, whose nationality was not immediately available, was not known.

Two other crewmen were rescued immediately after the collision.