PH Embassy in Berlin Repatriates New Batch of Filipino Crew of AIDA Cruises to the Philippines

Filipino crewmembers check in for the chartered flight (Berlin PE photo)

BERLIN 15 June  2020 – A total of 303 Filipino crewmembers of AIDA Cruises departed for the Philippines from Hamburg, Germany on 10 June 2020 via a chartered TUI Netherlands flight. They arrived in the Philippines on 11 June 2020.

The seafarers had been awaiting repatriation after cruise trips were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in March.

The Filipino crew, part of several thousand AIDA Cruises employees of different nationalities, were assisted at the send-off by Philippine Ambassador to Germany Ma. Theresa Dizon-De Vega, Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz, and Philippine Embassy staff members Arneil Sergio and Vieto Pilapil.

The crew members expressed their hope that cruise operations would gradually be resumed by German maritime companies.

Before boarding, The Filipino crew were provided with information on how to avail of the AKAP or Social Amelioration Fund and also the Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay Livelihood Assistance Program of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. END

Left photo: Philippine Ambassador to Germany Ma. Theresa Dizon-De Vega (leftmost) confers with AIDA Cruises Head of Operations Control Marco Merius on the repatriation procedures. Right photo: Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz provides information on the AKAP and Livelihood Programs. (Berlin PE photo)

Crew members arrive at Hamburg International Airport from the Hamburg Port Cruise Center. (Berlin PE photo) 

For more information, visit  https://www.berlinpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.de or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGermany.