Stranded seafarers repatriation vowed
Marina will do everything it can to repatriate stranded seafarers and help seafarers at home to be deployed in their respective ships
Speaking in behalf of the maritime cluster of the Department of Transportation (DoTr), the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has vowed to do its best to repatriate Filipino seafarers stuck in vessels in different ports abroad, and send out those who are waiting here to be deployed to perform their long-been halted jobs.
This is following the recent consensus outcry of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and United Nations attached agencies and bodies, on member States to establish and implement measurable, time-bound plans to increase the rate regarding crew changes.
In a virtual presser Friday, Marina Administrator Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad said the country’s maritime regulators has been dilligently doing efforts for the Philippines to be International Hub for Crew Change in Asia.
My heart goes to all the seafarers out there. Marina will do everything it can to repatriate stranded seafarers and help seafarers at home to be deployed in their respective ships.
He said one of the efforts that the whole maritime sector has been spearheading is the establishment of One-Stop Shop (OSS) to crew change concentrated and designated ports, namely Manila, Subic and Bataan.
Empedrad emphasized that these OSS guide arriving seafarers in performing and obeying safety health protocols, since its full-swing operation last August.
“My heart goes to all the seafarers out there. Marina will do everything it can to repatriate stranded seafarers and help seafarers at home to be deployed in their respective ships,” said Empedrad.
Meanwhile, DoTr for Maritime Assistant Secretary Narciso Vingson admitted that it will be hard for them to heed the call of ILO and UN attached agencies, as their hands are basically tied because of the strict health protocols being imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
“As early as April we already moved and opened our ports and airports in order for our seafarers to go home with their families and in their hometown. But the problem is, we cannot compromise our local population here. We still need to abide to health and safety protocols being imposed by the IATF,” said Vingson in an interview.
He said the DoTr, so far, has opened ports of Capinpin in Bataan, Subic, and Manila to be crew change hubs, and will soon open more ports, such as Davao, Cebu and Batangas.
“With regards to increasing of flights in airports, we are not the authority to decide, since the maritime cluster only governs seaports. But when we opened up our seaports for crew change, we have catered about 54,000 seafarers, including foreign nationals. While in our airports, 80,000 Filipino seafarers have been catered to and have reunited with their families,” Vingson told the