Nine Filipino seafarers who were held hostage by Houthi militants in the Red Sea aboard the ill-fated M/V Eternity C will be released and transferred from Sana’a, Yemen to Muscat, Oman, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced.
The DFA said it received confirmation from Omani authorities regarding the release.
“The release was the outcome of efforts by Oman, in cooperation with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro personally discussed the plight of the Filipinos with her Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Sayed Badr bin Hamad El-Busaidi, during a bilateral meeting in July, and again during a phone call in November,” the statement read.
The DFA added that the Philippine Embassy in Muscat and the Migrant Workers Office-Muscat will coordinate the safe and immediate repatriation of the seafarers to the Philippines. The Philippine government also expressed its “sincerest appreciation” to the Sultanate of Oman.
The MV Eternity C, a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier with 22 crew members, 21 of whom were Filipinos, sank in the Red Sea following repeated attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants using sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades.
Previously, the Philippine government barred Filipino seafarers from boarding vessels traversing the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Department of Migrant Workers required manning agencies to provide written guarantees that Filipino crew members aboard passenger or cruise vessels would avoid these “war-like zones.”
