Vietnam has officially stopped its search and rescue operations for the missing 16 Filipino crew of the ill-fated MV Jupiter, which sank off the coast of Vietnam on January 2. The victims’ families will receive all the benefits due them, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.
Only one of the 19 all-Filipino crew survived the incident but only two bodies of the seafarers were found after the cargo vessel sank.
The lone survivor identified as Angelito Roxas of Iloilo, chief cook, is still undergoing treatment, the cost of which is being borne by Gearbulk Norway.
Gearbulk Norway had declared the missing crew lost.
In a report, the remaining vessels of Vietnam’s Maritime Rescue Coordinating Committee has ceased the SAR operations and has left the vicinity where the ship sunk.
“Alexander Querol, chief operating officer of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation, the local manning agency of Gearbulk Norway, which owned the MV Jupiter, had written to inform me of the stoppage of the search-and-rescue. He also informed me Gearbulk had settled all of the Filipino seafarer-victims’ contractual benefits and the families and beneficiaries have claimed these in Manila with the assistance of the DOLE,” labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.
“In addition, Gearbulk Norway had committed to extend other benefits, particularly scholarships for the children of the crew,” she said.
“As we assured, they have received all the benefits due them in accordance with their employment contracts and the provisions of the collective bargaining agreements covering the shipowner and the Associated Marine Officers and Seafarers Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) of which the seafarers are members,” said Baldoz.
The Bahamas-flagged ship departed from Malaysia last December 30 en route to China, with 19 Filipino crew members, carrying a cargo of bauxite.
After issuing a distress signal, Bulk Jupiter sank about 150 nautical miles off the Vietnamese coast, according to Gearbulk Holding Limited, owner of the vessel.
Baldoz assured that the government’s paramount concern is to ensure the welfare of Filipino seafarers and their families, especially when maritime accidents happen.
She said that with 300,000 Filipino seafarers deployed annually there is always the likelihood that a Filipino seafarer may be onboard when a ship is reported to be involved in an accident anywhere in the world.
Thursday 5 March 2015
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/03/06/16-pinoy-sailors-lost-in-vietnam/
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