Third Filipino seafarer dies in Black Sea attacks

MANILA, Philippines — A third Filipino seafarer has died following recent drone and missile attacks in the Northern Black Sea, bringing the death toll among Filipino crew members to three, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Saturday, August 1.

DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said 236 Filipino seafarers aboard 17 commercial vessels have been affected by the attacks near Ukrainian ports.

Of the total, three were killed, 15 were injured, one remains missing and 217 are safe.

Cacdac said he has visited the families of the three slain seafarers and the missing Filipino upon the instructions of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

"I have personally, per instructions of the president, visited all of the families of the three deceased, including the one missing. I've assured them and conveyed the president's sympathies and directive of fullest support and assistance," he said during a news forum.

The DMW is coordinating with ship owners and other agencies to bring home the remains of the three seafarers.

The latest fatality comes less than two weeks after the DMW confirmed the deaths of two Filipino seafarers in separate drone attacks in the Black Sea. The first death was reported on July 6, while the second was reported on July 19. Authorities have yet to disclose when the third seafarer died.

So far, 89 affected Filipinos have returned to the Philippines, including nine of the 15 injured seafarers.

Five Filipino crew members of the Antigua-flagged bulk carrier M/V Venturo arrived in Manila on Friday, while 13 more were expected to return on Saturday.

The rest are distributed across Ukraine, so na-ibaba na sila, some ay na-ibaba na sa Ukrainian mainland, Romania, Greece, and Turkey," Cacdac said.

(The rest are distributed across Ukraine. Some have already been brought to mainland Ukraine, Romania, Greece and Turkey.)

The DMW said it has reiterated its high-risk advisory for the Black Sea, ordering the repatriation of Filipino seafarers from attacked ships and directing ship owners and manning agencies to move Filipino crew members in the area to safer locations.

The agency also advised ship owners not to deploy Filipino seafarers to the northern Black Sea while fighting between Russia and Ukraine continues.

Cacdac said the advisory was based on security assessments by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense, which both consider the area to be under a full-scale international armed conflict.