The government is striving hard to retrieve the remains of two Filipino seafarers who died aboard cargo vessel “M/V True Confidence” that was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile launched by Yemen-based Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden last Wednesday, March 6.
President Marcos directed the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to extend all the necessary assistance to the families of the slain seafarers, whose identities were withheld per request of their kin, to make sure the bodies of their perished loved ones will be brought home.
“We have expressed our deepest sympathies to the families and will provide all the assistance and support needed by the families of our fallen seafarers, as directed by the President,” DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac said on Friday, March 10.
Meanwhile, 10 Filipino crew members aboard the ill-fated ship were confirmed to be safe and accounted for while three others were injured in the attack.
Cacdac said the injured seafarers are already in stable condition and receiving medical care at a hospital in Djibouti City, the capital of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, while the non-injured ones were staying at a hotel in Djibouti City as confirmed by the ship's manning agency.
“We welcome the report that our seafarers are safe and secure, away from the dangers they faced,” he noted.
“I had a video call with all 10 Filipino crew members in a Djibouti hotel and [I] attest to their safety,” he stated.
The DMW has already coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and its own Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in the region to ascertain the crew members’ physical and medical conditions and to provide any needed medical assistance.
Houthi rebels based in Yemen launched a missile attack on the crew’s cargo vessel at about 5:30 p.m. last Wednesday just as they were about 50 nautical miles away from Aden, the capital of Yemen.
Based on the manning agency’s report, the missile struck the vessel’s fuel bunker section causing an explosion and engulfed the ship in flames. The magnitude of the explosion forced the crew to evacuate the ship immediately to avoid further injuries.
An Indian Navy vessel, part of the international task force patrolling the volatile Red Sea – Gulf of Aden sea lanes, rescued the crew and brought them to Djibouti.
The Gulf of Aden, a deepwater basin in Yemen, has been included in the expanded list of "high-risk areas" (HRAs) by the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) last month.
This was prompted by the crisis in the Red Sea as Houthi rebels launch multiple maritime and aerial attacks against Israel. Houthi is allied with the Palestinian militant group Hamas which launched a war against Israel last year.
Following continued attacks by the Houthi rebels against commercial vessels that threaten the safety of transiting seafarers, the IBF decided to expand the list of HRAs which now includes the entire southern section of the Red Sea and the entire Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, stretching across to the coast of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa.
Prior to this, the IBF -- a forum that brings together the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and the international maritime employers that make up the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG) -- has agreed to designate only the southern section of the Red Sea and the Bab El-Mandeb Strait as HRAs effective since December 22, 2023.