One of the 22 Filipino seafarers aboard a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker struck in the Persian Gulf this week has died, the Department of Migrant Workers said on Saturday, and the agency is preparing to tell shipowners to keep their vessels out of the waterway.
The MT Velos Sapphire was sailing toward Bahrain when an unidentified projectile hit it shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday. Crew members put out the fire the explosion started.
What the DMW said about the crew
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac told GMA News that 22 Filipinos were on board. One died, one was hurt and the other 20 were safe, he said.
“There were 22 Filipino seafarers on board. Nasawi yung isang kababayan natin. Of the 21, one is injured and the 20 others are safe and sound,” Cacdac said.
Bombo Radyo reported the same tally of one dead and one injured, also citing Cacdac.
ABS-CBN, reporting the department’s statement, said the 21 other Filipino crew members were unharmed. The ship’s manager said separately that it had logged no other injuries, and the department has not explained the difference between the secretary’s account and its written statement.
Who owns the tanker, and what hit it
The vessel is managed by the Greek firm Velos Tankers. In a statement, the company said one of its seafarers was “found fatally injured on board after having initially been reported missing in the aftermath of the explosion.”
Velos Tankers said the crew put out the fire and that there were no reports of pollution. The tanker was taken to Bahrain’s Khalifa Bin Salman Port, where the extent of the damage to its hull will be assessed and an investigation opened.
Philippine authorities have not determined whether a drone or a missile struck the ship. The manager believes it was a missile, while early Philippine reports described a possible drone attack.
What happens to the survivors
Cacdac said his office is coordinating with the ship’s manning agency for the safety and eventual repatriation of the survivors. The government has reached the family of the seafarer who died and pledged assistance.
The department will issue a new advisory asking shipowners to keep their vessels out of the Persian Gulf, and to respect Filipino crew members’ right to refuse passage through high-risk areas, to repatriation and to appropriate wages.
The death follows a run of Filipino casualties in the same waterway. Two Filipino seafarers were killed in September when a Saudi oil tanker was struck near the Strait of Hormuz, and the 14 Filipino crew of the drone-hit Contship Jet came home this month.
More than 120 ships have been struck in the Gulf since the war began, a count the desk carried when Qatar’s LNG carrier Al Mayeda was hit on November 2.
Key facts
| Vessel | MT Velos Sapphire, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker |
|---|---|
| Manager | Velos Tankers, a Greek firm |
| When | Shortly after 1 a.m. local time on Thursday, November 5, 2026 |
| Where | Persian Gulf, while sailing toward Bahrain |
| Filipino crew | 22 |
| Dead | 1 |
| Hurt | 1, per Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac; the ship’s manager logged no other injuries |
| Safe | 20 |
| Vessel status | At Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain, for assessment and investigation |
The photograph above shows oil tankers at Iraq’s Al Basrah Oil Terminal in the Persian Gulf, in a US Navy image taken in December 2004. It does not show the MT Velos Sapphire or the attack on Thursday, and the vessels visible in the frame are not connected to the incident. (Photo: U.S. Navy, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
