Magsaysay Maritime Corp said some 10,000 Filipino seafarers would be repatriated after cruise lines worldwide suspend operations due to COVID-19.
Some 10,000 Filipino seafarers need repatriation after COVID-19 halted the operation of cruise ships worldwide, a crew service agency said Tuesday.
“Naguumpisa na po ang repatriation. Asahan po natin sa darating na mga araw ay marami po ang uuwi diyan,” its chairman Marlon Rono told radio DZMM.
(The repatriation has begun. We expect more Filipino seafarers to arrive in the coming days.)
“They are floating in some areas. Alam mo naman ang cruise ship may sariling doctor, may sariling ospital. They are taken care of kung may symptoms na nangyayari.”
(They are floating in some areas. You know a cruise ship has its doctor, own hospital. They are taken care of if symptoms show.)
Roño said the principal shoulders the cost of repatriation. However, transporting seafarers from Visayas and Mindanao would be challenging as travel is suspended nationwide.
He assured that the affected Filipino seafarers could go back to their jobs once the situation “normalizes.”
Magsaysay is the agency of around 400 Filipino crew members of the virus-hit cruise ship Diamond Princess.
There are more than 400,000 Filipino seafarers on commercial vessels around the world.
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LIST: Cruise lines which suspend operations due to COVID-19
Meanwhile, here are the cruise lines which suspended their operations:
- Princess Cruises
- Diamond Princess
- Grand Princess
- Viking
- Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
- Cunard Line
- Holland America Line
- Royal Caribbean Cruises
- Seabourn Cruise Line
- Carnival Cruise Line
- Costa Cruises
- MSC Cruises
- Norwegian Cruise Line
- Cruise Lines International Association