The bodies of two Filipino seafarers who died aboard the crude tanker MT SIDR reached the Philippines on the night of September 11, closing one chapter of a case that has now turned scrutiny onto the vessel’s manning agency.
According to the Department of Migrant Workers, one of the men had invoked his “refuse to sail” right after being told the ship would cross the Strait of Hormuz — a detail that has pushed the agency to widen its inquiry into how the deployment was handled. GMA News reported that the DMW is examining the manning agency over the circumstances that put the crew on that route.
The two died on August 31 when the SIDR was struck while moving through the strait, a chokepoint that carries a large portion of the world’s seaborne crude. Saudi Arabia’s national shipping line Bahri, which operates the tanker, confirmed the fatalities and said the vessel had been caught in a security incident as it approached the waterway. Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac earlier said 16 Filipinos were aboard when projectiles hit and touched off a fire; the crew contained the blaze, but two of their number were lost.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the DMW met the remains at the airport. OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne “PY” Caunan was present to receive them and to stand with the grieving families. From there, one seafarer’s body was set to travel to relatives in Laguna and the other to Cebu.
OWWA said it is working alongside the DMW, the licensed manning agency and other government partners to carry out a dignified transfer of the remains and to deliver assistance to the bereaved. The agency added that its Regional Welfare Offices would stay in contact with the families to arrange welfare support and other services matched to what each household needs.
The 14 surviving members of the crew had already come home on September 8. Cacdac has said the department is disallowing deployment wherever a seafarer chooses to exercise the right to refuse to sail, and that shipowners moving through conflict-hit or high-risk waters must first run risk assessments, put security measures in place, weigh vessel escorts and satisfy reporting rules — safeguards the DMW intends to check as it reviews the SIDR case.
