Another Batch of Filipino Crew of Sea Chefs, Tui Cruises Return to PH 

Filipino crew members prepare to board the flight to the Philippines. (Berlin PE photo)

BERLIN 19 June 2020 – Another batch of 304 Filipino crewmembers of AIDA Cruises departed for the Philippines from Hamburg, Germany on 17 June 2020 via a chartered TUI flight. They arrived in the Philippines on 18 June 2020. The seafarers had been awaiting repatriation after cruise trips were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March.

The Filipino crew, part of several thousand Sea Chefs and Tui Cruises employees of different nationalities, were assisted at the send-off by Philippine Ambassador to Germany Theresa Dizon-De Vega, Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz, and Philippine Embassy staff members Arneil Sergio and Elvin Jay Alejandro.

Ambassador Dizon-De Vega gave a brief message to the Filipino crew members on the procedure upon arrival in the Philippines and expressed the hope that they would be able to secure employment again in the near future. Labor Attaché Cruz likewise reminded the seafarers to avail of the government’s different programs for displaced overseas workers.

The crew members expressed their hope that cruise operations would gradually be resumed by German maritime companies. To date over 2,800 Filipino crew members have been repatriated from Germany.

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 OWWA. END

Philippine Ambassador to Germany Theresa Dizon-De Vega gives a brief message to the Filipino crew members before boarding the flight. (Berlin PE photo)

Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz explains the AKAP and other government programs for returning overseas workers. (Berlin PE photo)

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