Iranian Drone Strikes Malta-Flagged Container Ship in Strait of Hormuz, Injuring Eight Crew Members

Seven Filipino seafarers were injured in an Iranian drone attack on the Malta-flagged container ship CMA CGM San Antonio while it was on night transit near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz on May 5, 2026. The strike injured eight crew members in total and damaged the vessel.

Three of the Filipino seafarers sustained serious injuries and are in an intensive care unit of an undisclosed hospital, while four sustained relatively minor injuries, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said.

All the injured Filipinos are receiving medical treatment. “The seafarers are alive. They survived the attack, and they have been taken out of the ship,” Cacdac said in a news briefing on May 7. The Department of Migrant Workers has a line of communication with the Filipino crew.

It is constantly providing information and all necessary assistance to their families. Relevant embassies, labor attachés, and the Migrant Workers Office in the area are closely monitoring the seafarers’ situation through the hospital. They are set to visit the seafarers in the coming days.

As of May 7, 2026, about 1,400 seafarers have successfully exited the Strait of Hormuz. That total includes the 92 seafarers aboard four ships who exited over the past week. The Department of Migrant Workers continues to communicate with manning agencies and shipowners to extract all Filipino workers from the Persian Gulf.

It now allows disembarking Filipino crew members to be replaced by other Filipinos. Replacement of Filipino crew was previously banned to reduce the number of Filipino workers in the area. “We have allowed a replacement crew, but only for those whose contracts are finished and for those who had been experiencing fatigue or some form of post-traumatic stress,” Cacdac said.

Rappler reported that the ship was hit as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz on night transit near Oman on May 5, 2026.