5 repatriated seafarers arrive at Subic port

Five Filipino seafarers arrive home after being stranded on board a cruise ship in China since April. They underwent strict health and safety protocols in Subic Bay Freeport on Thursday to ensure that they were free of COVID-19. (Contributed)

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT –– Five repatriated seafarers who were stranded aboard a cruise ship in Dapeng, China since April arrived in this Freeport on Thursday.

The crewmen of MV Dapeng Star were assisted by personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Quarantine as they underwent strict health and safety protocols to ensure that they were free of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Upon arrival at the port, the seafarers proceeded to the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) at the Subic Bay International Airport, where they were required to undergo triage or sorting procedures and swab testing.

The seafarers then boarded a P2P vehicle bound to their designated quarantine facility in Manila for mandatory quarantine.

The Department of Transportation said the new crew change hub in this free port follows the first crew change operations conducted outside Metro Manila and in Port Capinpin in Bataan,

Wilma Eisma, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chair and administrator, underscored the significance of opening crew change hubs in the country, including in this freeport “as this will allow Filipino seafarers to go back home.”

This free port was opened and activated as a crew change hub on Aug. 22. INQ

LZB