MANILA -- The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Sunday that the four Filipinos on board the MSC Aries are "safe and sound," according to the latest update that they have received.

"'Yung barko ay nakaangkla, hindi nakadaong, nakaangkla off the Port of Iran at andoon pa rin sa barko 'yung ating mga tripulante. Hindi sila bumaba sa barko. Sila ay safe and sound," DMW officer-in-charge Hans Cacdac said on TeleRadyo Serbisyo.

"Bagama't gano'n, tayo ay humihingi pa rin ng pagkakataon na makausap sila [at makausap nila] 'yung mga kamag-anak nila," he added.

The official also said that they are in contact with the four Filipinos' families and assured them of the "fullest government support."

DMW: Gov’t working on safety, release of 4 Filipinos on ship seized by Iran

Cacdac said they are also coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) with this matter, since this is not the first time that a ship was seized in the Straits of Hormuz.

"Nangyari na ito dati at mayroon na naman pangyayari ngayon with MSC Aries kaya sinasandalan natin ngayon ang DFA, kasi sila ang may diplomatikong pakikipag-ugnayan sa pamahalaan ng Iran," he said.

And although the ship was seized, no harassment issues against the Filipinos have been reported, according to Cacdac.

"Wala naman [harassment reports]. Ito ang isang pagkakaiba nito sa sitwasyon ng Somali pirates o kaya mga Houthi rebels. Ang Iranian government ang nagsagawa ng pagsampa sa barko. Mayroon naman tayong diplomatikong relations with Iran dahil may embahada tayo sa Tehran," he said.

However, Cacdac acknowledged that it is hard to give a timeline on when the four Filipinos would be able to get in touch with authorities or their families, and when they would be able to go home to the Philippines.

According to the DMW official, MSC Aries departed Abu Dhabi 2 days ago and was headed to India but was stopped on their tracks by the seizure.

"Container ship ito (MSC Aries) so mga containers ang dala at may mga isang araw na siyang naglalayag. Mga alas-2:30 ng hapon Philippine time nitong Sabado (April 13, 2024) nangyari 'yung insidente. Sumampa 'yung Iranian Navy sa barko at mayroon nang seizure nung ship at pagdala ng ship sa Iran," Cacdac said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship "related to the Zionist regime (Israel)" in the Gulf on Saturday, state media reported, with tensions soaring in the region.

The ship's operator, the Italian-Swiss group MSC, later confirmed Iranian authorities had boarded it.

Israel called it "a pirate operation" and demanded that the Guards be declared a "terrorist organization" by the European Union.

Some Filipino crew members of an oil tanker that Iran seized in January in response to the US seizure of crude from Iran on the same vessel in 2023 were sent back to the Philippines in March.

DFA verifying if Filipinos onboard ship seized near Strait of Hormuz