Pinoy captain vows to return to sea after Houthi attack

MANILA, Philippines — MV Tutor captain Christian Domarique has vowed to return to the seas after he and 20 other Filipino seafarers were rescued from a June 12 Houthi attack.

“We first need to rest because of the trauma,” Domarique said yesterday at a press conference at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

“We will recover for a few months before returning,” he added.

Houthi rebels in the Red Sea attacked the Greek-owned and Liberia-flagged MV Tutor, which carried a crew of 22 Filipinos.

One of them is missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room. Search operations are underway.

Domarique recalled that a remote-controlled “dummy” skiff hit the vessel on the right side and exploded.

A drone caused a second explosion on the other side of the ship, he added.

“We could not determine where the enemy was, if they would be coming from above or at sea. The ship was almost submerged after a few minutes,” Domarique said.

“We tried to locate our missing fellow seafarer in the engine room but we couldn’t concentrate due to the water coming in,” he added.

Combined international forces rescued the crew on June 14 and the US Navy brought them to Bahrain.

Before arriving in Manila, the seafarers were given financial assistance of 192 dinars or P30,000 as they met with Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac and representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Health (DOH).

The crew yesterday received P230,000 in financial assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Department of Migrant Workers.

The DMW will meet this week with maritime stakeholders to discuss amending the policy allowing Filipino seafarers to refuse boarding foreign vessels passing through the Red Sea.

The existing policy ensures that Filipino seafarers have the option to disembark vessels cruising the Red Sea and be assigned to another ship, he noted.

Cacdac said 25 Filipino seafarers have exercised their right to refuse sailing since the policy implementation.

Manifestations to refuse sailing may be written or verbal, using forms or by phone, he noted.

The agency will look into how ship owners obtained seafarers’ consent to board a