DFA Welcomes Home 262 Filipino Seafarers from the United Kingdom

(Photo by DFA-OUMWA) 

PASAY CITY 24 April 2020 — On the 40th day of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomed 262 Filipino seafarers of Marella Explorer from London, United Kingdom. They arrived in NAIA Terminal 1 at 1500H aboard TUI Airways Flight 969.

The Philippine Embassy in London facilitated the repatriation of crew members in coordination with Jebsen Maritime, one of the largest crewing companies in the Philippines. The air charter was borne by the British cruise line Marella Cruises and the aforementioned local manning agency.

The health authorities conducted thermal scanning and COVID-19 rapid testing upon the debarkation of the returning crew. The testing is part of the new policy of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

“All arriving overseas Filipino workers, whether land-based or sea-based, shall be required to undergo a mandatory 14-day facility-based quarantine and shall be subject to rapid antibody testing for COVID-19,” said IATF-EID spokesperson Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

The DFA is in unison with the government agencies to ensure the safe return of Filipinos worldwide while putting a premium on public health in time of the COVID-19 pandemic. END

(Photo by DFA-OUMWA)