MANILA — The Philippine government said Thursday it has received assurances from a major Saudi offshore services company that 412 Filipino seafarers deployed in the Persian Gulf are safe, well-supplied, and continuing to work under their existing contracts.
Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said he met with officials of Zamil Offshore during a four-day visit to Saudi Arabia from April 20 to 23, part of an intensified government effort to monitor Filipino maritime workers amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
“It was a very fruitful meeting,” Cacdac told reporters in an online press briefing. “We were positively assured by Zamil Offshore representatives of the safety of our 412 seafarers in these support ships — that they have food and water and adequate supplies, and other basic needs. So, they’re being taken care of.”
Cacdac said the seafarers’ contracts remain in force, including a provision requiring the regular remittance of 80 percent of their earnings to their families in the Philippines. He added that strong onboard internet connectivity has allowed the workers to stay in regular contact with relatives back home.
Zamil Offshore officials also expressed interest in expanding their Filipino workforce, praising the workers’ “knowledge, competence, and seamanship,” according to Cacdac.
No High-Risk Routes
Cacdac sought to ease concerns about the seafarers’ exposure to conflict zones, stressing that the vessels they crew operate exclusively within the Persian Gulf and are not scheduled to transit the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea that has been a focal point of regional tensions.
“The 412 seafarers on those ships will continue to work within the Persian Gulf. They will not exit the Persian Gulf out of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Over 1,100 Seafarers Have Already Exited
The DMW chief said the Saudi visit is part of a broader government monitoring operation covering Filipino seafarers across the Middle East. He reported that 1,161 Filipino seafarers had exited the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz between April 2 and April 18, many of them aboard cruise ships already operating in the area.
The government had previously estimated that approximately 4,600 Filipino seafarers were deployed in the region.
“The count we had was around 4,600, so 1,161 have exited. Subject to further validation of the figures, safe to say that the 4,600 have been reduced,” Cacdac said.
He said remaining vessels with Filipino crew members are either anchored or docked in areas considered safe, with adequate provisions on board.
Real-Time Tracking in Place
Cacdac said the DMW has been coordinating closely with shipowners and manning agencies since the start of the regional crisis, requiring them to file regular status reports on their deployed workers.
The agency is also using marine traffic monitoring systems to track vessel movements and locations in real time.
“We know where the ships are, and we know who has exited — which is why we have the 1,161 who have already exited the Strait of Hormuz on our list,” he said.
The Philippines is one of the world’s largest suppliers of maritime labor, with hundreds of thousands of Filipino seafarers deployed on vessels across the globe at any given time.
