PH Embassy in Berlin, POLO Send off Filipino Crew of Sea Chefs and Tui Cruises from Germany

Filipino crew members check-in for the flight to London Gatwick Airport en route to Manila. (Berlin PE photo)

BERLIN 25 June 2020 – A batch of 76 Filipino crewmembers of Sea Chefs/Tui Cruises departed for the Philippines from Hamburg, Germany on 24 June 2020 via a chartered TUI flight. They are expected to arrive in the Philippines on 25 June 2020 via another flight from London Gatwick airport. 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 Sea Chefs and Tui Cruises employees of different nationalities, were assisted at the send-off in Hamburg by teams from the Philippine Embassy in Berlin and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO-Berlin).

Before departure, 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

Welfare Officer Sylvia Gabriel  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.