MANILA (Jan 4, 2021) - In a press release the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) capped its repatriation efforts in 2020 by bringing home 327,511 overseas Filipinos workers, coming from at least 90 countries around the world. The DFA said that 29.3 percent of the overseas Filipinos workers, or 95,974 in total, are seafarers from more than 150 cruise ships, oil tankers, and other bulk vessels.
Two MSC cruise ships departed from South America and set sail on a trans-Atlantic voyage back to Europe. The decision to cancel the South American season for MSC Musica and Sinfonia comes after the closing of the borders in Uruguay as well as Brazil’s decision to restrict the entry of foreigners by land and sea for 30 days, report Brazilian media.
MSC Cruises announced today that the company has received ‘certificate of compliance’ from the Japanese maritime classification society ClassNK for its health and safety protocol which is the first step towards the restart of cruises in Japan. In a press release, MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato said they are anticipating to resume cruises from Japan in April 2021.
Several Italian news outlets including the newspaper Giornale di Sicilia reported an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases detected in Sicily.
It is hard to believe that after 7 months since the global shutdown of the cruise industry there are still crew members waiting to be sent back home. While majority of the crew were repatriated long time ago, about 103 of our fellow crew members from Mauritus are still stranded on 3 MSC cruise ships in Brazil. They have patiently waited for a positive news from their Government, MSC cruises and their recruiting Agency Oceangoers to return home and be with their loved ones.
While we are all aware of the challenges and fears that the COVID-19 pandemic has bestowed upon all of us in the same sense it also shows us what truly is important.
MSC Cruises announced that the company received approval by Italian authorities to restart with limited voyages in the Mediterranean this August aboard MSC Grandiosa and MSC Magnifica.
The Mauritius national public broadcaster MBC, reports that 230 Mauritian crew members, called to resume service on cruise ships at the port of Genova in Italy, left Mauritius on a charter flight on Wednesday, July 29.
After setting up an inter-functional task force composed of in-house experts in the sectors of medical services, public health and sanitation, hotel services, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), on-board engineering systems and technology IT and logistics, MSC Cruises also made use of the support of a group of experts from Aspen Medical to further implement its health and safety protocol.
After crossing the Atlantic Ocean with 1450 crew members on board, the cruise ship MSC Divina finally arrived at the port of Civitavecchia, Italy on June 4. Crew Center received the following appreciation letter from a crew member expressing his respect and gratitude towards all on board, making this journey a great experience.
