THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is reminding all shipowners and licensed manning agencies (LMAs) against deploying Filipino seafarers to vessels traversing the Black Sea.
In an interview, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the DMW is reiterating the deployment ban currently in effect for Filipino crew members in the Black Sea.
“We already posted a directive not to proceed to the Northern Black Sea, not to board Filipino seafarers on ships that will navigate the Northern Black Sea,” Cacdac said.
“Our Filipino seafarers should be outside of that area, out of harm’s way. That is our directive,” he added.
Cacdac stressed that the ban is based on the security assessment of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of National Defense (DND).
“The security assessment by both our DFA and our DND insofar as the Black Sea is concerned is that there is a full-scale international armed conflict in that area,” Cacdac said.
The DMW issued the reiteration following a string of attacks involving at least four vessels carrying 82 Filipino crew members in the Black Sea this month alone.
The incidents will be investigated by the DMW, particularly to determine why Filipino seafarers were still onboard the four vessels despite the deployment ban being in effect. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
