TWENTY-THREE Filipino seafarers who survived drone attacks in the Black Sea received assistance from the Romanian and Philippine governments, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) reported.
Ten seafarers from MV Christina B were assisted upon their arrival at Constanta Port in Romania on Aug. 7, 2026, and 13 seafarers from MV Asia received assistance in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Aug. 8, 2026.
Meanwhile, the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Constanta provided food and financial assistance to the 10 seafarers and helped them complete processing with the Border Police before transferring them to a hotel near the airport prior to departing for Manila.
They arrived in the Philippines on Sunday, Aug. 9.
In Istanbul, DMW personnel provided airport and financial assistance to 13 MV Asia seafarers for their onward journey to the Philippines. The assistance was led by Labor Attaché Adam Musa and Hamdan Sayedy of the Migrant Workers Office-Lebanon, together with Kristina Oliveros of the DMW Regional Office in Legazpi.
Last Friday, Aug. 7, six more Filipino mariners arrived from Türkiye. The crew of MT Blue were allowed to leave their vessel after a Russian replacement crew formally assumed responsibility. The ship was towed for technical assessment and was declared beyond repair due to severe damage from a drone attack.
MV Christina B, MV Asia, and MT Blue were among the 17 ships with 236 Filipino seafarers onboard that were affected by the drone attacks in the Black Sea.
The attacks have resulted in the death of three Filipino seafarers, left 15 injured, and one missing.
Based on Aug. 1 data from the DMW, three Filipino seafarers have died as collateral damage in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
“The attacks have largely targeted bulk carriers and oil product tankers, with incidents occurring in or near ports and anchorages in southern Ukraine. Most ships sustained damage from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone attacks while alongside — meaning ‘nakadikit sa puerto’ (docked at the port) — at anchorage, or shortly after departure,” Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said in a separate report.
