After almost three months, 13 crew members, including six Filipinos, finally disembarked from the Comoros-flagged MV Hirman Star on Monday after being stranded in the Iloilo Strait due to the ship’s unseaworthiness and unpaid salaries.

According to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Chief Patricia Yvonne Caunan on Tuesday, negotiations involving the ship captain, shipowner representatives, and the manning agency took nearly five hours once authorities were granted access to board the vessel and speak with the crew.

The rescue operation took place Monday evening and was led by Caunan, Iloilo City Congresswoman Jam Jam Baronda, and Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Director for Sea-Based Accreditation Bureau Ogie San Diego III.

The vessel reportedly lacked sufficient food, water, and electricity.

DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac explained that the ship was initially declared unseaworthy due to hardware violations, prompting the Philippine Coast Guard to prohibit it from sailing to prevent potential accidents.

He also disclosed that Hirman Star's captain, a Filipino, initially refused to leave the ship, believing the shipowner should be given time to address the crew’s concerns.

“In the end, the crew realized, ‘Wait, we’re the ones aggrieved here. We’re not even getting paid anymore.’ That’s when the situation shifted,” Cacdac said in Filipino. “We call the crew the soft resource on a ship… and when the issue started affecting human resources, that’s when it was brought to our attention.”

Caunan noted that the DMW and OWWA were only made aware of the situation less than a week ago through a letter sent to the DMW.

DMW Undersecretary for Licensing and Adjudication Services Bernard Olalia revealed that the Filipino crew members were deployed by Erika Crew Manning Services Incorporated.

He added that Erika Crew’s license had been suspended on 6 May following multiple complaints, including delayed salary payments.

It was also reported that the seafarers of Hirman Star signed two contracts: the original contract submitted to and approved by the DMW, meant to be honored by the principal and employers, and a substituted version.

Each of the Filipino seafarers received P100,000 in financial aid, P50,000 from the DMW and P50,000 from OWWA, along with additional forms of assistance.

Meanwhile, the seven Indian crew members are being assisted by the Bureau of Immigration to secure the necessary clearance to disembark.

“The goal is to give them immigration clearance to disembark. After that, they will go through medical check-ups and be repatriated. So within the next coming days, I would think [that’s when] the seven Indian nationals will be repatriated,” Caunan said.