THE Philippine embassy in Tehran facilitated the safe disembarkation and repatriation of four Filipino seafarers who wanted to flee the war between the United States and Iran.
"Their case illustrates the perils that seafarers constantly encounter when being deployed to this region," the embassy posted on X on Saturday.The embassy said the Filipinos had been working in gas fields off the coast of Bushehr and Kish Island in Iran.
The Filipinos cited the difficulty of working for an Iranian company, “including the danger to their physical safety due to the military conflict near their place of work in Iran’s southern coastal areas,” the embassy said.
It referred the Filipino workers’ plight to Iranian authorities, and arranged for their repatriation in coordination with the local manning agency.
They disembarked on July 14 and sought temporary shelter at a rest house in Bushehr, before travelling by land from Bushehr to Shiraz on July 27, from where they boarded a domestic flight to Tehran.
At Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, the seafarers were met by Deputy Head of Mission and Consul General Jabbar Adiong and ATN Officer and Attaché Eunice Tabitha Trinidad-Tumampos, who facilitated their exit through the airport immigration authorities.
They arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on July 29.
Last Saturday, 13 Filipino crewmen of the cargo ship M/V Venturo arrived at NAIA.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said the Venturo had come under drone attacks in Ukraine.
Five other Filipinos from the same ship arrived home on July 31.
"The repatriation was arranged amid ongoing drone attacks in Ukraine. One Filipino seafarer was killed, and three crew members were injured in the incident," the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said in a statement on Saturday.
DMW and OWWA personnel provided financial and other assistance, while airport personnel attended to the injured crew members, OWWA said.
Representatives of the seafarers’ manning agency, Michaelmar Phils. Inc., also met them at the airport.
This ship was hit by a drone while docked at the Pivdenny port in Ukraine.
The DMW directed the agency to ensure that the seafarers undergo the necessary physical and psychological checks and debriefing sessions.
It also reminded licensed manning agencies and their accredited principals “to strictly observe safety precautions and comply with established protocols for vessels carrying Filipino seafarers through the Black Sea."
