21 Filipino seafarers stranded in India

21 Filipino seafarers stranded in India
October 05, 2018 https://www.rappler.com/nation/213642-mv-evangelia-m-filipino-seafarers-...

The Department of Foreign Affairs is sending consular officers to Kakinada Port, more than 1,800 kilometers from New Delhi, to assist the Filipinos abandoned by their employer

MANILA, Philippines – For more than 3 months now, 21 Filipino seafarers have been stranded at a port in southeastern India after their employers abandoned them.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) revealed this information as it ordered the Philippine embassy in New Delhi to help these overseas workers.

The seafarers are at Kakinada Port, more than 1,800 kilometers from New Delhi. They were onboard MV Evangelia M, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier abandoned by its Greek owners, the DFA said on Friday, October 5.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano instructed the embassy to immediately send consular officers to the port as soon as the information about the stranded seafarers reached his office on Friday.

He also directed the DFA Office of Migrant Workers Affairs to request the assistance of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in ensuring that the manning company in Manila would facilitate the immediate repatriation of the seafarers and the collection of their salaries. – Rappler.com