DMW: 12 Filipino seafarers safe after ship attack off Iraq waters

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Tuesday confirmed that 12 Filipino seafarers aboard a ship that was attacked in the waters off Iraq are safe.

According to a report on “Saksi,” DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said they received reports from shipowners that more than 7,000 Filipino seafarers in ships near the Strait of Hormuz are also safe.

The DMW reminded anew seafarers that they may refuse to board ships that will pass through high-risk areas such as the Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman.

The agency earlier declared these areas as “war risk operations areas” amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Seafarers who decline to join ships bound for dangerous areas will be given two months’ pay and paid transportation to return to the Philippines. — JMA, GMA Integrated News