DFA Rounds Out Holy Wednesday with 152 Seafarers Brought Home from Miami, USA

PASAY CITY 08 April 2020 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomed home 152 crew members of Carnival Cruise ships Liberty, Magic and Sunshine, who arrived Wednesday afternoon via Qatar Airways Flight QR 932.

Upon their arrival at the airport, the crew members underwent thorough mandatory inspection and quarantine protocols conducted by the Bureau of Quarantine. While there were no COVID-19 cases on board and no known exposure among the crew members, the repatriates will nevertheless undergo home-quarantine for 14 days.

In line with the whole-of-nation approach, the DFA in coordination with its partner agencies — the Department of Health (DOH), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) — as well as the seafarers’ local manning agency, United Philippine Lines (UPL), successfully facilitated the crew members’ repatriation – the eleventh batch for UPL-hired seafarers of Carnival Cruises.

This is the third repatriation for Holy Wednesday, following the arrival of 247 seafarers from Germany this morning and nine overseas performance artists (OPAs) from Japan this afternoon.

The DFA and its partners will continue to bring home distressed OFWs affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic throughout the Holy Week and beyond Easter Sunday. END