The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) confirmed that three more Filipino crew members of the Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated cargo ship MV Eternity C were rescued following an attack by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the new development brings the total number of rescued Filipino seafarers to eight.
“We have received a confirmed report that rescuers found three more MV Eternity C Filipino seafarers, bringing the total number of rescued to eight,” Cacdac said on Thursday night, July 10.
However, DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia disclosed that three Filipino seafarers were killed during the attack. He added that the families of the deceased have already been notified.
Ten seafarers are missing and they are now the subject of an ongoing search and rescue operation.
“The search for the others continues,” Cacdac said.
In a press briefing, Cacdac said the Houthi and the United States government had issued statements, saying that some crew members were forcibly taken before the ship sank.
“We are fully aware of two statements that have come out. The first is the Houthi statement that they have several Eternity C crew and second, the statement of the United States that they announced this particular action of taking in the crew as a kidnapping action,” he noted.
However, Cacdac said the DMW was still in the process of verifying such reports.
Earlier, the DMW announced that five Filipino crew of MV Eternity C were rescued after the vessel was besieged by Houthis while sailing off 50 nautical miles southwest of the port of Hodeidah in Yemen last July 7. The ship sank a day after. (Martin Sadongdong)
