A Filipino seafarer hurt in a reported drone attack on an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf is being treated in Qatar, the Department of Migrant Workers said on Tuesday. The department added that it is checking on the condition of 24 other Filipino crew members who were on board the vessel. The department has not said when the injured crewman is expected to be well enough to fly home.
The tanker, the ACER, was reportedly struck by three drones on 7 October. The Qatar Navy and the Qatar Coast Guard rescued the injured crewman and took him to Hamad General Hospital in Doha, where he is now receiving medical care. The department has not given details of his injuries, but said he is being monitored closely by Philippine officials in Qatar.
On 12 October, officers from the department’s Migrant Workers Office in Qatar, led by Labour Attaché Eduard Ferrer, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration visited the seafarer in hospital and gave him assistance. The two agencies are keeping track of his condition and arranging welfare support for his recovery and his eventual return home to the Philippines. Support from both offices will continue while he remains in hospital in Doha and until he is fit to travel.
The Migrant Workers Office is also working with the ship’s local manning agency to follow the situation of the rest of the Filipino crew. According to the department, the 24 seafarers are safe and are travelling to Dubai, where the tanker is expected to drop anchor. The department said it would keep coordinating with the relevant authorities and agencies to help Filipino seafarers caught up in emergencies and maritime security incidents abroad.
The attack is the latest sign of growing danger for commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf and the nearby Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s main routes for oil cargoes. The department linked to an earlier case in which 14 Filipino seafarers came home after a tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. For now, its offices in Qatar are focused on the injured crewman’s recovery and on keeping in touch with the rest of the crew until they reach Dubai and the vessel is safely at anchor, after which arrangements for their onward travel can be made.
