DMW: 11 Filipino crew of Houthi-attacked ship set to be repatriated

Eleven Filipino seafarers who were among the crew of the merchant ship that was attacked by the Houthi rebel group in the Gulf of Aden are set to return to the Philippines, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Sunday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, DMW officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said among those who will be repatriated are 10 Filipinos who were uhmarmed, and one who was injured in the Houthi missile attack.

"Itong uuwi sa Tuesday ay 11. Sampung unharmed at isang injured. May dalawa pang naiwan sa ospital na may major injuries, at 'yung labi ng dalawa na nasawi," he said.

(Eleven of them are going home on Tuesday. Ten of them are unharmed, while one was injured. Two Filipinos with major injuries remain in the hospital, while the bodies of the two who were killed have yet to be retrieved.)

The missile attack launched Wednesday by Houthi rebels killed three seafarers onboard the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence. Aboard were 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, and the Indian captain.

Among those who were killed were two Filipino seafarers. Their remains are still in the ship as the salvaging operation for the merchant ship is still ongoing.

"Ang tinamaan ng missile ay ang fuel tank ng barko. Mataas pa ang heat signature, so hindi pa nakapasok ang team sa salvaging operations na hinire ng shipowner. Kasama talaga sa pakay ng salvors ang makuha ang dalawang labi ng ating mahal na tripulanteng nasawi," Cacdac said.

(The missile hit the ship's fuel tank. The heat signature is still high, so the team hired to conduct the salvaging operations has not yet entered the ship. The goal of the salvors is really to get the remains of the two Filipinos who died in the incident.)

The 20 crew and three armed guards on board the vessel were earlier reported to be taken to a hospital in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa by an Indian warship.

The DMW chief said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will be giving financial assistance to the Filipino seafarers who were affected by the attack. He said President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. also ordered a whole of government approach to help them.

The Houthis have launched a campaign of attacks on vessels in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes since November in solidarity with the Palestinians amid Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. — VDV, GMA Integrated News