Filipino Sailors Held Captive by Houthis in Said to Be in ‘Good Condition’

Jerusalem, 11 March, 2024 (TPS) -- MANILA, March 11, 2024 (PNA)
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said the 17 Filipino seafarers of Galaxy Leader, a ship seized by the Houthis in the southern Red Sea, are in good condition but have yet to return to the country.

“They are not included among those who will arrive in the country tomorrow,” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said during a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview over PTV 4.

This was after the agency announced that 11 out of the 13 surviving seafarers of Houthi attack on MV True Confidence will be going home on March 12.

De Vega assured that the seafarers have food, are in good condition, and are able to communicate with their families.

“Our honorary consul in Yemen is able to visit them, but the UN Security Council condemns this action and we call for their release once again and we’re coordinating with the) international communities,” he said.

From bases along the Yemeni coast, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have threatened ships in the Red Sea as they traverse the Bab el-Mandeb Straits, a narrow maritime choke point between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. The majority of the world’s oil passes through the strait from the Indian Ocean towards the Suez Canal and Mediterranean Sea.

The Houthis vowed in early December to target any Israel-bound ship in the Red Sea, regardless of its ownership. They have attacked or harassed a number of ships and hijacked the Galaxy Leader in November.

Citing the statement of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., de Vega said the DFA is calling on other countries for freedom of navigation and world commerce that is not impeded.

“There should be no obstacles to the trips of the) tankers or commercial ships because that’s their right according to international law,” Marcos said.