12 Filipino seafarers safe after Houthi attack on Dutch cargo ship: DMW

12 Filipino seafarers safe after Houthi attack on Dutch cargo ship: DMW
Agence France-Presse Oct 01, 2025 https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/10/1/12-filipino-seafarers-safe...

MANILA — The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Wednesday that all 12 Filipino crew members aboard the Dutch-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht were safe after an attack by Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden.

Minervagracht was hit by a projectile that sparked a fire on Monday.

While the ship’s 12 Filipino crew members are “safe”, two of them “remain under medical care—one with minor injuries and another with serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said.

The Filipinos and their fellow Russian, Ukrainian, and Sri Lankan crew members have moved “to a secure location,” the DMW said.

“The Filipino crew members will be transferred again for their scheduled flights home this weekend, where our Labor Attaché is waiting to receive them,” the agency said in a statement.

The DMW said government was providing support services to the crew members, including accommodation from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), financial aid and psychosocial counseling from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and medical check-ups from the Department of Health (DOH).

“Families of the seafarers have been informed and are receiving close support throughout the process,” the DMW added.

Houthis said its attacks on commercial shipping were in support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

MV Minervagracht was targeted "because its owner company violated the decision to ban entry to the ports of occupied Palestine", said the Iran-backed group, which holds swaths of territory in Yemen including the capital Sanaa.

British maritime security company Ambrey said the ship had previously been targeted on September 23 "while en route to Djibouti."

The Huthis have also launched frequent missile and drone attacks on Israel, which has retaliated with strikes in Yemen.

Israeli strikes on Sanaa killed at least nine people on Thursday, a day after the rebels launched a drone attack on southern Israel.