Metro Manila, Philippines – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said it is investigating the alleged list of 24 Filipino seafarers supposedly on board Russian vessels suspected to be part of the “shadow fleet.”
In a news conference on Monday, Feb. 16, DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac said they are crosschecking names of the sailors with their database and will be calling their families as part of the probe.
Sen. Erwin Tulfo, who chairs the committee on foreign relations, raised the alarm on Sunday, Feb. 15, and called for a meeting with the DMW and the Department of Foreign Affairs, as he said they could be in danger in the Russia-Ukraine war.
In a statement, Tulfo said the information came from Ukrainian Ambassador Yuliia Fediv, who had a courtesy call with the senator last week.
According to the European Council, Russia’s shadow fleet is a “large, clandestine network of ageing tankers” transporting oil or products made from Russian crude oil despite sanctions, which “enables Russia to continue earning critical revenue for its war economy.”
“Seryosong matter ito,” Cacdac told reporters. “We will get to the bottom of this in the next 24, 48 hours para malaman kaagad natin at ma-locate natin kung saan ang mga kababayan natin on board the so-called shadow fleet.”
[Translation: This is a serious matter. We will get to the bottom of this in the next 24, 48 hours to immediately know and locate our countrymen on board the so-called shadow fleet.]
Cacdac said the DMW will be looking into the licensed manning agencies on whether they are responsible for deploying seafarers that somehow end up in the supposed shadow fleet.
“It’s possible sa record namin, dineploy sila let’s say sa Greece or saan pa man, but they ended up in the shadow fleet. That will be a serious offense, of course,” the DMW chief said.
“Wala pa tayong findings ganun. Ito’y spekulasyon lamang on our part,” he said.
[Translation: It’s possible that on our records, the seafarers were deployed to let’s say Greece or another country, but they ended up in the shadow fleet. That will be a serious offense, of course. We don’t have that kind of findings yet. It’s just speculation on our part.]
Cacdac said the “shadow fleet” does not have registration and insurance, putting into question the seaworthiness and condition of vessels, as well as the contracts signed by the seafarers.
“These vessels employ evasive tactics such as switching off tracking systems, using ‘false’ flags and other complex ownership structures in order to hide their identity, origin, and cargo,” the European Council also said of Russia’s “shadow fleet” vessels.
Cacdac urged Filipino seafarers not to enter into arrangements that do not pass through the DMW.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITWF) has sounded the alarm that some affected crews of seafarer abandonment were on “shadow fleet” ships close to conflict zones or unstable regions.
The ITWF reported that Filipino seafarers were the second-worst-affected national group by abandonment in 2025.
On Feb. 6, the European Commission proposed a sweeping ban on any services that support Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports, going far beyond previous piecemeal European Union sanctions in its effort to stunt Moscow’s key source of income for its war on Ukraine.
Russia exports over a third of its oil in Western tankers – mostly to Greece, Cyprus, and Malta – with the help of Western shipping services.
The new package of sanctions, the 20th since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost four years ago, includes adding 43 more vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet to its sanctions list, taking the total number to 640. – with a report from Reuters
