27 Pinoy sailors safe after Houthi attack on MV Transworld Navigator —DMW

All 27 Filipino crew members of a bulk carrier that was reportedly attacked by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea over the weekend were safe, according to Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac on Monday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Cacdac said the attack failed to immobilize MV Transworld Navigator.

"Hindi siya tinamaan in a sense na na-immobilize siya," Cacdac said. "Nakapaglayag pa siya at nailigtas 'yung 27 crew on board."

(It was not hit in a sense that it was immobilized. It was able to sail and the 27 crew on board were safe.)

Cacdac also said the Filipino crew members will likely be repatriated once they reach a safe port.

"Nakaranas sila ng pag-atake, baka kailangan munang umuwi sila sa kani-kanilang pamilya," he said.

(They experienced an attack so perhaps they need to go home to their respective families.)

The Yemeni Houthi group said on Saturday that its forces had attacked the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the Red Sea and the Transworld Navigator ship in the Arabian Sea.  The Iran-backed group did not say when the attacks took place.

A Houthi statement said the Transworld Navigator took a direct hit from a missile. The operation against the Eisenhower had achieved its objectives successfully, it said, without elaborating.

The DMW earlier directed licensed manning agencies and their accredited principals or employers to consider avoiding the passage through the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and nearby territories.

Seafarers should also be given ample time, opportunity, and means to signify their intent to either continue with the voyage or refuse to join the ship in its scheduled passage in these areas, according to the DMW.

At present, a Filipino sailor is still missing following Houthi rebels' attack on MV Tutor, a Liberian-flagged and Greek-owned ship earlier this month. The MV Tutor suffered serious flooding and was abandoned after it was struck by a sea drone off rebel-held Hodeida.

Twenty-one Filipino sailors survived the attack and are now home in the Philippines. —with Reuters/KBK, GMA Integrated News