A total of 881 Filipino seafarers from four international cruise ships who were stranded at sea due to the coronavirus pandemic have arrived today at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the first batch of 445 seafarers from Norwegian Cruise Line arrived today around 3:30am via chartered Wamos flight.
A total of 349 passengers are crew members of MV Encore which offloaded passengers at Fort Miami in Florida, USA last March 15. Cruise crew were told to stay as the ship remained off Miami Beach. A week later, one of the crews tested positive.
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Ninety-six crew members who arrived are from Norwegian Cruise Line’s MV Dawn.
Meanwhile, on board another chartered flight Ethiopian Airlines are 436 crew members from two Costa Cruises cruise ships MV Magica and MV Favolosa.
The two cruise ships also had passengers who were tested positive while sailing in the Caribbean last month. At least six people on Costa Favolosa and two people in Costa Magica were tested positive. Later, upon arrival of Port of Miami, seven crew members from Costa Favolosa and six from Costa Magica are brought to hospital as they exhibited symptoms like bronchitis and pneumonia.
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The DFA said the repatriated seafarers will undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a “facility” monitored by the Bureau of Quarantine.
Earlier, DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. appealed to hotels in Metro Manila to accommodate the Filipino seafarers who are arriving today and the next days to come.
