14 Filipino Seafarers from Sunk Contship Jet Return Home
Fourteen Filipino seafarers who survived the sinking of the Liberian-flagged container ship Contship Jet are returning home to the Philippines on Monday, 2 November. The ship was hit by sea drones on 28 October in the western Black Sea, off Cape Kaliakra near Varna, Bulgaria, and later sank. It was sailing from Haifa, Israel, to Constanta, Romania.
All 18 crew members, 14 Filipinos and four Ukrainians, were rescued by Bulgarian authorities and taken ashore at Varna. According to the survivors, the captain told the crew to jump into the water after the first strike. The Filipino seafarers spent two to three hours in the sea before rescuers reached them.
Philippine labour officials met the crew in Varna, checked their condition and arranged support for their repatriation. The ship’s captain and a company representative praised the Filipino crew for their professionalism and said they would be willing to work with them again.
Contship Jet was one of several merchant ships attacked in the western Black Sea in October, as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to hit commercial shipping near Bulgarian and Romanian waters.
The safe return of all crew is welcome news, but the survivors’ account shows how fast a drone attack can turn into an abandon-ship situation. Seafarers on ships trading to Black Sea ports need to know their muster stations, keep lifejackets and immersion suits close at hand, and practise abandon-ship drills seriously. Under IBF agreements, crews also have rights in warlike operation areas, including extra pay and the right to refuse to sail.
