21 Pinoy seafarers from Ukraine to arrive in PH on March 8; more vessel crew members reach Moldova–DFA

21 Pinoy seafarers from Ukraine to arrive in PH on March 8; more vessel crew members reach Moldova–DFA
Betheena Unite March 6, 2022, https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/06/21-pinoy-seafarers-from-ukraine-to-arrive-i...

SAFER GROUND– Thirteen Filipino seafarers from Ukraine reach Moldova on March 4. They are crew members of MV Star Helena. (Photo courtesy of the DFA) A group of Filipino seafarers from war-stricken Ukraine are expected to arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday, March 8, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced.

“Good news! Twenty-one seafarers of MV S-Breeze arriving on 8 March and 13 crew members of Star Helena were evacuated from Chornomorsk, Ukraine to Moldova are now awaiting repatriation,” DFA Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said on Twitter.

The 21 seafarers were extracted from MV-S Breeze at the Port of Odessa in Ukraine between Feb. 27 to March 1.

They were able to enter Chisinau, Moldova. From there, the Filipinos were transported to Romania where they arrived early on March 4.

They will be arriving via Philippine Airlines PR659 on Tuesday night.

According to the DFA, the repatriation was made possible through the efforts of the Philippine Embassy in Budapest and the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Moldova.

The crewmembers were evacuated from the MV S-Breeze, a bulk carrier that has been on drydock for repairs at the Ilyichevsk Ship Yard in Port of Odessa, Ukraine since Jan. 27 this year.

The DFA also confirmed that another group of seafarers, specifically 13 out of the 31 crew members of Star Helena, crossed the Moldova border on March 3.

They were successfully evacuated from Chornomorsk through the Honorary Consul in Moldova and are currently awaiting repatriation.

As of March 4, 19 Filipinos from the war-hit country have been repatriated, 19 nationals were evacuated to Poland, 16 were brought to Moldova, 31 were evacuated to Romania, nine are in Austria, and 15 are in Hungary.

There are still 116 Filipinos in Ukraine as of March 4. They were urged to immediately the country before the trains from Lviv from Kyiv stop operating to avoid experiencing crossing the borders on foot.