Remains of Filipino sea farer who died in shipboard dr ill exercises in greece to arrive home  

14 April 2007 — Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. (CDA) Eleanor L. Jaucian reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the remains of Filipino seafarer Pepito Flores, who died on 5 April 2007 in an accident during safety drill exercises on board the Bahamas-flagged cruiser ‘Astoria,’ will be sent home to the Philippines.  

In her report to the Department, CDA Jaucian said that the official report from the Corfou (Kerkyra) Coast Guard stated that the ‘ Astoria ’ docked at Corfou Port at 7:38 a.m. on 5 April 2007 and was set to sail out at 8:00 that evening.  At around 10:35 a.m. on the same day, an accident occurred while the ship’s crewmembers were doing safety drill exercises on board the ship that resulted in injuries to two Ukrainian crewmembers and the death of crewman Flores.  The Corfou Coast Guard immediately brought in experts to inspect the ship and found that one of the lifeboats was hanging from its stern.  There was also a crack on the solder of the stern’s supporting structure.  

Upon the order of the Corfou Public Prosecutor, the ship’s Captain was placed under arrest and the ship was banned from leaving the island until cleared by the Corfou Coast Guard.  The initial official report did not state how crewman Flores suffered fatal injuries from the accident; an autopsy was ordered.  

CDA Jaucian said that an Embassy official will seal the casket containing the remains on 14 April 2007 in Athens , and added that the Embassy will inform the Department of the flight details of the shipment of Mr. Flores’ remains once these are finalized.  END

/jay

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