Philippines Reports: As the Ban Increases, 78 Crew Members Refused to Sail the Red Sea

The Philippines is taking action to prevent its sailors from being on board ships that are passing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which is close to Yemen. In response to the Houthi militants’ most recent escalated attacks in Yemen, the Department of Migrant Workers on Tuesday held a press conference in Manila where it outlined the actions it intends to take to extend its earlier orders to the shipping industry to expand the safety protections for its citizens working aboard commercial ships.

The majority of the seafarers aboard the car carrier Galaxy Leader, which the Houthi seized in November 2023, as well as the 22 crew members aboard the bulker Tutor, which the Houthi sank, and the Transworld Navigator, which was attacked over the weekend, are Filipino, according to Department Secretary Hans Cacdac. Following the ship’s abandonment, the Philippines made arrangements for the repatriation of the Tutor’s 21 surviving crew members, and Cacdac said that they would be extracting the 27 Filipino crew members from the Transworld Navigator when it arrives at port following the most recent attack.

Last month, Cacdac revealed that the department was thinking of outlawing the employment of any Filipino seamen on ships that traveled through the Red Sea. He acknowledged that the issue is complicated during the Tuesday briefing. Together with partners in the industry, such as the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard, they are undertaking security and risk evaluations. Among the majority of seafarers employed in the commercial sector are Filipinos.

First, Cacdac declared that it will go after the three shipping companies that either owned or operated the vessels, among them Evalend Shipping of Greece, which was in charge of the Tutor. The scope of the prohibition on the Galaxy Leader, which is operated by Ray Car Carriers and has connections to Zodiac Maritime, an Eyal Ofer company with substantial shipping interests based in the UK, was not made clear by him. The True Confidence is managed by its ISM in Cyprus and is owned by Greece. It will be illegal for Filipinos to go on any of these companies’ ships that are passing through or close to the Red Sea.

The Department intends to expand the prohibition, and according to Cacdac, they will be examining the logs of more ships that the Houthi have targeted. He anticipates that the list of ships subject to the prohibition may grow.

Additionally, they want shipowners to provide letters of assurance stating that they will not send Filipino sailors to work in the Gulf of Aden or the Red Sea.

The Department has already recommended that ships veer off of Red Sea routes twice, most recently in March 2024. The employment of Filipinos on passenger or cruise ships traversing the Red Sea was expressly prohibited the following month due to the high volume of people who often board these vessels.

In accordance with the International Bargaining Forum and International Transport Workers’ Federation’s directives, the Philippines has mandated that all ship owners inform Filipino crew members in the event that their vessel will be passing through the Red Sea. The choice to quit the ship must be provided to seafarers.

According to Cacdac, 78 Filipino seafarers have chosen not to sail as a result of scheduled transits in high-risk areas. Additionally, he issued a warning, citing information they had learned that certain sailors had not been given enough time to exercise their right to refuse to sail. Shipowners, he said, needed to enhance the notification’s timeliness and threatened to take legal action against vessels that did not give enough warning.

The Department stresses that because Filipino seafarers can work on other ships owned by these companies that are not traveling into high-risk areas, it is not a “absolute prohibition.” In order to give Filipino sailors greater protection, they do, however, intend to further change the current regulations.

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