60,000 Pinoy seafarers stranded across the world amid pandemic

Over 60,000 Filipino seafarers are stranded all over the world amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the United Filipino Seafarers group.

In Tina Panganiban-Perez’s report on “24 Oras” on Tuesday, United Filipino Seafarers President Engineer Nelson Ramirez said those stranded Filipinos were either working at sea, port or the anchorage.

“When you say stranded, meaning they have finished already their contract and they have extended their contract so whether they’re at sea or in port or the anchorage basta mga ganoon,” Ramirez said.

He added one of the main reasons why the seafarers are stranded was due to ships that refused a crew change. So far, only 13 countries all over the world have agreed to a crew change.

In the Philippines, the Port of Manila remains the only port that allows the embarkation and disembarkation of seafarers regardless of nationality.

“Gusto rin ng mga ship owners, manning agencies na ibaba na talaga ‘yong mga marino pero nalulungkot ako na may mga marino na kahit dito mismo sa sarili nating bansa ay ‘di sila makababa,” Ramirez said.

Due to this, the United Filipino Seafarers wrote to the Inter-Agency Task Force, requesting for additional ports where the seafarers can disembark.

Meanwhile, Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Administrator Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad said only the Port of Manila was allowed because it has the testing capacity and enough quarantine facilities for the seafarers.

“Manila lang ang capacitated to do some testing, mayroong quarantine facility, while other ports are not capacitated to undergo crew change,” Empedrad said.

“‘Pag puwede na, then we decide to open the ports for crew change. Kasi mahirap sa Manila pila-pila so sabi eh magastos maghintay, but soon when we open up batangas, when we open up Subic in the future, luluwag na ang Manila so mas lesser ‘yong cost ng pag-conduct ng crew change dito sa Pilipinas,” he added. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News