THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Saturday said that 21 of the 22 Filipino seafarers aboard a ship that was attacked by Houthi rebels had been rescued.

During the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the rescue operation on the MV Tutor was launched by international forces between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on June 13, as it was adrift in the southern portion of the Red Sea.

"Combined international forces rescued and extracted the 21 Filipino seafarers from the ship, which was immobilized but stable, and they were boarded on security forces ship and taken to safer port," Cacdac said.

Cacdac said the 21 rescued Filipino seafarers were now on board a US Navy ship and would arrive in the Port of Manama, Bahrain, at 5:30 p.m. Bahrain time (10:30 p.m. Manila time).

He said the team of DMW, Migrant Workers Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, under the "One-Country Team Approach" led by the Philippine ambassador to Bahrain, would be in Manama Port to receive the 21 seafarers.

"We shall provide fullest support and assistance to them," Cacdac said.

As for the remaining crew of the MV Tutor, Cacdac said the seafarer remained inside the abandoned Liberia-flagged coal carrier.

But the DMW chief said a search operation would be conducted to find the missing Filipino seafarer.

"We are still searching for him... We were assured they would not stop in terms of locating our missing seafarer who is just within the ship," Cacdac said.

Cacdac said they had already informed the family of the missing Filipino and relayed to them President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s directive to monitor the situation.

"I accompanied the family of the missing seafarer to the office of the manning agency, and I met the ship owner's agent there, and we were assured that we will not stop in terms of locating our missing seafarer," Cacdac said.

"The President has clearly directed us to monitor the situation as well as the continuing well-being of the 21 seafarers who are now headed to a safer port. So, it really, really just boils down to finding, locating our seafarer who is still onboard the MV Tutor," he added.

In a video message on Friday, the President said that the government was already exhausting all efforts to bring home the Filipinos from MV Tutor.

The President said that Manila was working closely with the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations regarding the matter.

"To our Filipino seafarers on board the MV Tutor that was bombed and now do not know what to do, we are doing everything we can. We are coordinating with the UK Maritime Trade Operations and looking for ways to bring you to Djibouti first," Marcos said.

"From Djibouti, we are also making arrangements for you to come home. Therefore, we continue to seek help from our friends to bring you to Djibouti," he added.

MV Tutor suffered missile and drone attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, June 12.

After the MV Tutor incident, another vessel, MV Verbena, was attacked in the Gulf of Aden. However, the Philippine government has yet to confirm if a Filipino crew was on board.

The Houthis have been launching sea attacks over Israel's war on Gaza. It continues to hold the MV Galaxy Leader, a vessel it attacked at the Red Sea in March, which has 17 Filipinos on board.

Cacdac said the Marcos administration imposed a whole-of-government approach to help Filipino seafarers attacked by the Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea.

He said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was closely working with foreign counterparts for the release of 17 captured by Houthi rebels last year.

"The ongoing effort to secure their release is being undertaken through the DFA — the DFA is communicating with foreign governments who have communication lines with Houthi rebels with the objective of securing the release of our seafarers and bringing them home safely," he said.

As to the Filipino seafarers onboard True Confidence, which was also attacked, Cacdac said 11 of them had gone home safely. Two, however, were killed.

He said overseas foreign experts have prepared the remains of the two fatalities while families of the victims have been informed.

"So, the two seafarers' remains are expected to be home soon," the DMW chief said.

Read The Rest at :