WHEN Well Services Ltd yesterday announced its decision to end the search for remains of missing rig worker Pete Phillip, grieving relatives felt as though they were being dragged back into the bitter aftermath of late 2024, when the father of six was plunged into the ocean during the collapse of Rig 110 along the east coast.

The company’s decision brought fresh heartbreak to Phillip’s elderly mother, his wife and his nine siblings, who have for the past year held out hope after company assurances that some part of the 45-year-old could be retrieved from water, and laid to rest.

But as they were informed by the company in a WhatsApp message yesterday morning, Phillip’s siblings called his death an act of negligence, and questioned why it had taken so long for salvage efforts to begin.