PH Consulate General in Los Angeles, POLO-LA Send Off Filipino Crew of Research Vessel

The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Los Angeles (POLO-LA) send off four Filipino seafarers employed by Fugro Marine Personnel Pte. Ltd. who left for the Philippines on 14 May 2020. (Los Angeles PCG photo)

LOS ANGELES 18 May 2020 – The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Los Angeles (POLO-LA) sent off four Filipino seafarers employed by Fugro Marine Personnel Pte. Ltd. for Manila on 14 May 2020 through the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) via a commercial flight.

This brings the total of Filipino seafarers assisted by the Consulate General to 1,209.

The four Filipino seafarers were stranded in Los Angeles after disembarking from the research/survey vessel M/V Hugin currently docked at the Port of Chickasaw in Mobile County, AL, and after the cancellation of their flight to Manila via Incheon, Korea.

The Consulate General’s officials accompanied the Filipino seafarers at the Tom Bradley International Terminal and informed them of what to expect when they arrive in the Philippines, particularly on new quarantine protocols. Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Officer Judelyn M. Cuaresma emphasized the Philippine government’s efforts to get Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) like them safely back to their families. The Consulate General also distributed flyers containing Philippine quarantine guidelines, as well as contact details of relevant government agencies and required forms to be filled out such as the “Profile of Filipino Repatriate Form” and “Case Investigation Form”.

Labor Attaché Armi Evangel N. Peña, for her part, reminded the seafarers of their rights as OFWs and the services available to returning OFWs that the government could give them. POLO-LA also distributed to the four Filipino seafarers the US$200 DOLE-AKAP financial assistance, for which they qualified.

Airfare, temporary accommodation costs in Los Angeles, and other related repatriation fees were borne by the employer, Fugro Marine Personnel Pte. Ltd., as well as the Philippine-based manning agency, Scanmar Maritime Services, Inc.

Completing the Consulate General’s ATN team for the send off were Protocol Officer Fernan B. Balicoco and POLO-LA’s Administrative Staff Atty. Miguel Ignacio Maria S. Castriciones. END 

(Los Angeles PCG photo)

For more information, visit https://www.philippineconsulatela.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinLA/.