President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed the government to mobilize every available resource for the Filipino crew of an oil tanker attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, an order that followed the deaths of two of the ship’s Filipino seafarers late on August 31, 2026.
Acting on that directive, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac instructed Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) offices to move quickly on assistance for the affected crew and their families. The department framed its response as a guarantee that no seafarer or household touched by the incident would be left without help.
The tanker, the Bahri-operated SIDR, was carrying 16 Filipinos when it was struck while approaching the strait, according to Cacdac. Two of them were killed; the other 14 came through without injury. Cacdac said the vessel was hit by projectiles whose source has not been established, and that the department is still determining the circumstances surrounding the two deaths.
Cacdac laid out where the crew stands now during an online briefing. “There were 14 other Filipinos that are safe and were unharmed,” he said. He confirmed that the remains of the two who were killed have already been brought ashore in Oman, with the survivors set to follow, and said arrangements to bring everyone home are underway.
Part of that support runs to the financial entitlements owed to the bereaved. The DMW said the families of the two who died will receive the compensation, insurance payouts, and contractual benefits provided for under their employment agreements and under Philippine and international maritime rules, alongside immediate welfare support.
The response spans several agencies. The DMW is working alongside the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Philippine Embassy and Migrant Workers Office in Oman, coordinating with the ship’s principal, the licensed manning agency, and regional authorities on medical care, welfare provisions, and the return of both the survivors and the two sets of remains.
Bahri, Saudi Arabia’s national shipping firm, placed the timing of what it termed a security incident at roughly 11:40 p.m. local time on August 31, and confirmed that the two crew members lost were Filipino nationals. The company said it has stayed in contact with the vessel and is coordinating with the relevant authorities.
The attack fits a wider pattern of danger along the waterway. Cacdac said 31 ships carrying 421 Filipino seafarers have been caught in incidents tied to vessels entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, with 406 unharmed, 10 injured but now stable, three killed — including the two aboard the SIDR — and one still missing. Roughly 3,000 Filipino seafarers remain aboard ships across the broader Persian Gulf, according to the department.
The names of the two men have not been released, a decision the DMW attributed to respect for their families and to notification and coordination steps that have yet to be completed.
