DFA looking into possible 4th Filipino injured in missile attack in Black Sea

A fourth Filipino sailor may have been injured in a missile attack that damaged a civilian vessel while entering a port in Black Sea Wednesday, a senior Foreign Affairs official said.

While three injured Filipino crewmen of the Liberian-flagged ship have been reported out of danger, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ed De Vega said the DFA headquarters in Manila received a report that another seafarer from the Philippines suffered injuries from the attack.

"We are verifying reports that there is a fourth Filipino seafarer also with minor injuries at hospital," De Vega said, adding the seafarer is also a crew of the Liberian-flagged vessel.

De Vega said there is no clear information on where the missile came from but media reports said it was a Russian missile that hit the crew’s vessel while entering the port in Odessa region. One port employee, a Ukranian national, was killed.

The vessel was supposed to transport iron ore to China, Ukraine Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a Reuters report.

All Filipinos, De Vega said, are currently at a hospital in Odessa.

The Philippines is one of the world’s largest providers of shipping manpower in the world.

A bulk of Filipino seamen or more than 20% of the world’s 1.2 million sailors are manning oil tankers, luxury liners, and passenger vessels worldwide, exposing them to piracy attacks and conflict.—AOL, GMA Integrated News