9 Pinoy seafarers confirmed held by Houthis

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Tuesday confirmed that nine Filipino seafarers who survived the sinking of the Liberia-flagged MV Eternity C in the Red Sea on 8 July are currently being held by Houthi forces.

DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac said they had already established contact with the seafarers’ families prior to the release of a video by Houthi rebels that surfaced online on 29 July. The identities of the nine have since been directly confirmed by their relatives.

“Today, we confirm, in coordination with the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), that the nine are in the hands of the Houthi forces. We are continually in close coordination with the DFA and the families,” Cacdac said.

He added that there are three reported fatalities and one Filipino seafarer still missing, though these figures are still being verified.

The DMW emphasized the difficulty in confirming the fatalities, citing that the ship had sunk and they have yet to recover the remains of the three reported dead.

On 29 July, a Houthi propaganda video surfaced online showing 10 survivors from the Eternity C. The video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) at 2:39 a.m. Philippine time, featured testimonies from several Filipino crew members. The names shown appeared to be English translations and may not reflect the actual identities of the seafarers.

One seafarer identified as “Mark Jason,” the vessel’s third officer, said they were discharging cement in the United States when they were informed their next destination would be Eilat, Israel.

He recalled that during a crew change in Port Said, Egypt, a new captain came aboard and told them they would be loading fertilizer in Eilat, though it was “not yet final.”

The voyage was confirmed after the crew finished discharging in Berbera, Somalia.

“The master called all the crew and then had a safety meeting: voyage is confirmed.

During the meeting, the crew asked if there is any bonus [that] we will receive because we will travel to a high-risk area, but the master only promised that he will contact the company,” said Mark Jason.

Another Filipino crew member, “Rafael Gonzales,” added that the fertilizers loaded in Eilat were supposed to be discharged in China.

Mark Jason also said the ship’s captain did not inform the crew that someone had contacted the vessel asking it to stop its voyage.

“When I go back to the bridge, I saw [the] captain monitoring the radio, I saw him lowering the volume of the radio, I heard [the] Yemen Navy calling our ship, but the captain did not answer. Called many times, but [the] captain did not reply, he ignored the call of [the] Yemen Navy,” Rafael said.

The ship’s electrical engineer, “Aleksei Galaktonin,” said this may have been the reason their vessel was attacked.

Cacdac confirmed that the vessel’s captain is a Filipino national.