MANILA (UPDATED) - Twenty-one of the 22 Filipino seafarers aboard the MV Tutor, which was attacked by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, have been rescued, the Department of Migrant Workers said on Saturday. 

Combined international forces launched the rescue mission on June 14, around 10:30 p.m., DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac told reporters, but declined to name which countries were involved in the extraction operation. 

“The ship was adrift in the southern Red Sea. Immobilized siya but stable. Inextract yung 21 Filipino seafarers and they were boarded into a security ship,” he said. 

“Mayroong isang natitira. Siya ay nasa engine room noong panahon na nag-atake ang drones. We are still searching for him,” he said. 

The DMW has accompanied the family of the missing seafarer to its manning agency to ensure that the crew would receive proper assistance and compensation. 

READ: Pinoy seafarers in Houthi-hit ship appeal for rescue; DFA condemns attack

“We were assured that we will not stop in terms of locating our missing seafarer who is just within the ship,” Cacdac said. 

*The 21 seafarers from the MV Tutor are aboard a US Navy ship, which will take them to the port of Manama in Bahrain, where Philippine Embassy officials will receive them, the DMW said in a statement. 

*They are expected to arrive on the evening of June 15, around 10:30 p.m. Manila time, the DMW said. 

Houthi rebels launched water-borne drones and missiles against the MV Tutor — Greek-owned and Liberia-flagged freighter — on June 12, while it was sailing off the coast of Yemen. 

MV Tutor is the third ship with a Filipino crew that has been attacked by Houthi rebels since November. 

In March, 2 Filipinos from the MV True Confidence were killed due to a missile attack, while 11 others were rescued. 

“Right now forensic experts in a country where the remains are taken have prepared for the 2 remains to be sent home,” Cacdac said.

RELATED: US destroys drones, missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen 

The surviving crew members of the MV True Confidence and the MV Tutor are expected to be repatriated as soon as they receive fit-to-travel clearances, he said.

“Wala lang strict timeline but we are expecting them to be home very soon.”

The DMW has also urged ship owners and manning agencies to allow Filipinos to decline deployments which would pass through the Red Sea, where most of the Houthi attacks occur.

The Houthi rebels earlier said that their attacks are in retaliation for Israel’s months-long pounding of the Gaza strip following an attack from Hamas in October 2023.