By John Clifford Lintao
AFTER months of being stranded aboard the Ocean Star 86 anchored somewhere in China, 11 Filipino seafarers have called on the Philippine government to rescue them even before things get worse.
The seafarers said that border restrictions meant to contain the spread of COVID-19, have prevented them from going home.
“Anim na buwan na kami nakatengga dito sa China. Bukod pa ‘yung unang transfer namin, naka 8 buwan na kami dito,” a video sent to another online media platform by ship crew member Anthony Medina said.
The video showed the sad plight of the Filipino seafarers who were made to stay at the ship’s laundry room – lying on the floor or underneath tables.
They said that they only get to eat whatever and whenever the embassy gets to send food.
“There is no more cargo on the ship, but we still cannot go home. We completed our contract. We’re 8 to 9 months over our contract…. We want to go home to our families. Our food is budgeted and our situation is very difficult,” Rappler quoted the seafarers.
Worse, the crew members claimed they have not been able to contact their manning agency, which compelled them to believe that they’ve been abandoned.
There have been reports that shipping companies have started abandoning their ships and its seafarers on board, citing heavy losses incurred making it more difficult for them to retrieve their ship.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs has to step in and exert pressure on other governments to repatriate our seafarers,” said Luis Manuel Corral, vice president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
Around 300,000 seafarers have been stranded at sea amid the imposition of lockdown measures designed to contain contamination of the deadly virus from China, leaving them at bay with no way to disembark and no way for fresh new members to relieve them.
Of this figure, the TUCP believes more than half of the stranded seafarers are Filipinos.
The Philippine Coast Guard said that 18,495 seafarers have been repatriated as of August 12.