5 May 2006 — Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo instructed Philippine Ambassador to Pretoria Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. to intensify the Embassy’s coordination with the South African Maritime Search and Rescue authorities, the Greek Embassy in Pretoria and the manning agent of the Greek-owned bulk carrier MV Alexandros T that sank at 11:00 p.m. (local time) on 3 May 2006 about 300 nautical miles off Port Elizabeth, South Africa with twenty-four Filipino seafarers of her 33-man crew.

“I wish to inform the public that, based on the report by Ambassador Reyes, six Filipino seamen have so far been rescued by the South African maritime authorities and I pray that more will be saved from this accident,” Secretary Romulo said upon receiving the initial report of the Embassy.    In view of the large number of Filipino crewmembers aboard this cargo ship, Secretary Romulo directed Ambassador Reyes to send Embassy officials  near the site of the ship accident “so that the Department and the Embassy will have a hands-on involvement in the delivery of services to the Filipinos in distress.”

Upon receipt of the instruction, Ambassador Reyes reported  to Secretary Romulo that he has “made arrangements for Consul General Renato L. Villapando and Mr. Eduardo M. Vinuya, Jr., Assistance-to-National officer, to travel to Port Elizabeth and/or Durban and remain there for at least three days to assist the Filipino survivors and directly coordinate with the rescue authorities and the ship’s manning agent for further assistance for the Filipino crewmembers as well as obtain information on the accident from the authorities themselves.”  The Embassy will forward the additional information to the Department upon receipt from the authorities.

The Ambassador added that the Embassy has requested the Philippine Embassy in Athens, Greece to coordinate with the Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine in Athens to obtain further information about the accident involving the St. Vincent and Grenadine-registered MV Alexandros T .

In his report, Ambassador Reyes said that Inter-Orient Agency, the ship’s manning agent, listed 33 crewmembers of the MV Alexandros T, 24 of whom are Filipinos.   The Greek Embassy in Pretoria confirmed the list of initial survivors in a fax message to the Philippine Embassy.  The Ambassador further stated that the Embassy has also been in contact with Mr. Des Vaubell of the Mission of Seafarers in Durban, who said the survivors are currently in a rescue ship still at sea.

While the Department has the names of the six Filipino seafarers who were saved from the accident, it would not be releasing their names to the public to respect the right to privacy to the families of the twenty-four Filipino crewmembers.  In the meantime, the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) is communicating with the relatives of the six survivors and the other crewmembers of the MV Alexandros T.

The Department requests the relatives of the Filipino crewmembers to coordinate with the ship’s manning agent , Inter-Orient Agency, on the agency’s assistance for its Filipino seafarers deployed aboard MV Alexandros T.  The agency’s contact person in Manila is Capt. Jimmy Milano with telephone 631-1226 or mobile 0919-6698778, and Ms. Barbara Voreakou in Greece.  Ms. Voreakou is the Operation Manager of Inter-Orient Maritime Enterprises, Inc., with telephone 00-30-210-8986310/13, fax 8986314/15 and email: inorm@ctenet.gr. END