DMW Releases Updated List of Risk Areas for Seafarers

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is advising employers of Filipino seafarers to ensure they are paying appropriate wages and benefits if their operations involve areas classified as “war-like” and “high risk” waters. The DMW has provided an updated list of these areas, which includes four “warlike operations areas” and one “high-risk area.” Seafarers deployed in these areas are entitled to various bonuses and compensation, such as double compensation for death and disability, the right to refuse sailing, and repatriation at the company’s cost.

The four “warlike operations areas” are 12 nautical miles off the mainland Yemeni Coast, the Sea of Azov and the Straits of Kerch, the Northern Black Sea Region, and all ports in Ukraine. Seafarers in these areas are entitled to a bonus equal to five days’ minimum basic wage, double compensation for death and disability, and the right to refuse sailing with compensation equal to two months’ basic wage.

The “high-risk area” is the Black Sea, and seamen sailing there are entitled to a bonus equal to the basic wage for the duration of their stay/transit, double compensation for death and disability, and the right to refuse sailing with compensation equal to two months’ basic wage. Additionally, the Gulf of Guinea is classified as an “extended risk zone,” and seafarers sailing in this area are entitled to a bonus equal to the basic wage only on the day the vessel is attacked in an act of piracy, as well as double compensation for death and disability if they occur on the day of the attack. These wages and benefits are retroactively effective from September 1.

Source .