FEATURE | Filipino fisher's death a window into industry exploitation

Sick at sea

Seven years after this death, Dela Cruz’s parents are still waiting for his remains in the village of Tuka in Sultan Kudarat province in the Philippines.

“I really cannot sleep, and I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't eat much, because my mind is still with Sam,” his mother Roselyn said.

Dela Cruz applied for overseas work in 2017 with the recruitment agency GMM Global Maritime Manila and, in early 2018, flew to Singapore, where ship-management services firm GMH Global Maritime Holding was based. He was quickly deployed onto the Han Rong 355.

Attempts to contact GMH Global Maritime were unsuccessful. A Singapore online business directory lists it as "struck off" the registry.

Medical records from 2013 to 2017 showed Dela Cruz was healthy and certified fit for sea duty. But after reaching Somalia in June, he began limping and complained of pain in his stomach and thigh.

A month later, he was rushed to the National Hospital Bosaso and died there on July 28, 2018, succumbing to cardiac arrest due to septic shock and multiple organ failure, hospital records showed.