The country’s largest seafarer labor union has urged the government to ensure the safety of Filipino mariners following the missile attack on a ship in the Gulf of Aden on 6 March 2024, that killed three seafarers, including two Filipinos, and severely wounded others.
“We express our deepest sympathies to the bereaved families and loved ones of the innocent victims. We are calling on all maritime stakeholders, UN (United Nations)-attached agencies, and government authorities to work collaboratively in taking necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of our seafarers working onboard ships in the warlike and high-risk areas of international waters,” Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines said in its official statement.
On Wednesday, Department of Migrant Workers officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said that two of the injured Filipino seafarers of bulk carrier True Confidence will be repatriated today.
“Two injured [Filipino] seafarers on True Confidence will arrive home via air ambulance on March 14th,” the DMW said on his official X account.
And as of Tuesday, the remains of the two Filipino seafarers who were killed in the missile attack by Houthi rebels last week have yet to be retrieved, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said.
As the principal trade union representing Filipino seafarers in the global maritime fleets, AMOSUP had met with the Seafarers Section of the International Transport Workers Federation, a global federation representing 18.5 million transport workers from 740 unions in 150 countries, and joined other seafarers organizations in declaring the area in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden along the coast of Yemen to be unsafe for seafarers in the face of the escalating conflict in the region.
The ITF earlier said the recent attack tragically confirmed its consistent warnings to the international community and the maritime industry about the risks faced by seafarers in the area, and that it serves as “the starkest reminder of the urgent need for collective action to safeguard the lives of those who keep the global economy afloat.”
AMOSUP agreed with the ITF in calling on shipowners and employers to avoid the area and to divert their vessels, regardless of the flag state, around the Cape of Good Hope until safe transit through the Red Sea can be guaranteed.