Cruise ship workers out of jobs till end of 2020; Philippines at risk of losing P228 billion in OFW remittances

Cruise ship workers out of jobs till end of 2020
Recto Mercene & Samuel P. Medenilla April 20, 2020 https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/04/20/cruise-ship-workers-out-of-jobs...

HALF of the estimated 100,000 Filipino seafarers rendered jobless by the complete grounding of about 250 cruise ships will not be able to resume work until the end of 2020, after major cruise operators, among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, canceled schedules “until the last quarter.”

The assessment, by travel consultant Manny Geslani, said an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 Filipino crew members out of 130,000 overseas Filipinos (OF) employed by more than 250 cruise ships all over the world will not be working from March till the end of the year.

Geslani sees work resuming only in 2021 as the pandemic has shown to be difficult to manage in some Western countries, a prime market for cruise ships. So far, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has repatriated more than 14,000 Filipinos, mostly from the various cruise ships plying the seven seas.

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), composed of 18 Member Lines, operates nearly 200 vessels in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters, while Cruise Lines International Association has 60 ships plying the Mediterranean and European waters.

G eslani said another 12,000 seafarers are expected to arrive in Manila on April 22 all the way until May from major cruise lines Royal Caribbean, P & O Australia, Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Holland and Princess. All these ships have Filipino and Indonesian crews sailing to Manila from Asia, Australia, Europe and the US.

The DFA said these ships have been given permission to dock at the Port of Manila, Piers 13 or 15.

Asked whether the returning seamen, who have been quarantined in their respective ships prior to their arrival, would still have to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine or home quarantine, DFA Undersecretary Ed Meneses said the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ) would have to decide the issue.

“BOQ best source of information on this, they have issued guidelines. Part of which is reporting prior to arrival on what steps have been taken to ensure health of crew.”

Geslani said the remaining 14,000 Filipinos crews are still on board their cruise ships, “still at sea or anchored off some distant ports on self-quarantine waiting for ship management to bring them to friendly ports.”

Geslani said since most of the major cruise lines like Royal Caribbean—with 61 ships affiliated with Carnival Corp.—have decided that the earliest cruise can start in the end of June or July, “Filipino crew members still on board will be sent home while the cruise ships will be disinfected and cleaned thoroughly.”

The total number of Filipinos sent home and those in the country “would be out of work until the last quarter of 2020 but they will receive their last pay check this month.”

Some cruise lines operators, however, are giving partial payment to their crew who are now in Manila, including those who signed contracts to join but were caught by the lockdown and are unable to join their ships.

Carnival Cruise Line plans to use five of their cruise ships to bring as many crew members back to their respective homes in Indonesia and the Philippines.

On the other hand, Holland America Line plans to use eight of their cruise ships to bring back the crew scattered across the globe. This includes four Princess cruise ships [Caribbean Princess, Regal Princess, Crown Princess and Island Princess], and three HAL ships (Veendam, Volendam and Nieuw Amsterdam) and Seabourn Quest. Crown and Island Princess will be departing for Asia to repatriate Filipino, Indonesian, Indian, and South African crew members from Princess ships. Veendam, Volendam and Nieuw Amsterdam will sail to Asia to repatriate all Holland America Line team members to Philipines, Indonesia, India and South Africa. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is expected to give P10,000 financial assistance to each crew member out of work until the last quarter of 2020. Stranded in Luzon In a radio interview on Sunday, Overseas workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Hans J. Cacdac said of the repatriated seafarers, 12,000 were billeted in hotels to complete their mandatory 14-day quarantine. He, however, said a considerable number of those who completed their quarantine were still unable to return to their homes. Cacdac explained, “60 to 70 percent of those stranded are from Visayas and Mindanao since they are still waiting for their LGU [local government unit] to open,” Cacdac said. Several LGUs in Visayas and Mindanao implemented their own lockdowns to prevent the spread of Covid-19 within their jurisdiction. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) earlier tasked OWWA to lead the Sub-Task group Quarantine Facilities, which will secure facilities of all repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
DOLE aid

During the weekend, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said they will provide aid for all of the repatriate Filipino sailors He said this includes the $200 cash aid from OWWA’s Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) and scholarship for their children. “More than 30,000 requests for assistance have already been received under the program, on top of the 25,800 stranded OFWs assisted by DOLE and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration,” Bello said in a statement. The government has allocated P1.5 billion for AKAP, which is expected to benefit 150,000 OFWs. Bello said they do not expect any mass permanent displacement among the Covid-affected seafarers since their manning agencies have already committed to rehire them once cruise ship operations resume. However, he said they are ready to provide alternative employment and livelihood opportunities for those who will no longer be rehired or to permanently stay in the country.

Philippines at risk of losing P228 billion in OFW remittances
Delon Porcalla - April 20, 2020 - https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/04/20/2008458/philippines-risk-l...

MANILA, Philippines — The national government stands to lose $4.5 billion (roughly P228 billion) this year in remittances from about 10 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This was the assessment given by the ACTS-OFW Coalition of Organizations headed by former party-list congressman Aniceto Bertiz III, who predicted that the $4.5 billion is a conservative estimate under a “best-case scenario.”

“Without the pandemic, we would have expected the aggregate incoming cash transfers from Filipinos overseas to grow by $1.5 billion (or by five percent) this year,” he said in a statement issued over the weekend.

“However, on account of the severe global economic devastation, we now project total remittances to reach only $27 billion this year, or down by $3 billion from $30 billion in 2019, assuming the best possible outcome,” Bertiz explained further.

Bertiz said migrant Filipino workers in the following sectors around the world are bearing the brunt of the economic destruction and job losses: shipping (both merchant and cruise operations) and shipping-related support services; aviation and aviation-related support services (including crewing operations, aircraft maintenance and catering); travel and tour operations; hotels, resorts and restaurants; gaming; and oil, gas and energy exploration and development (including related construction).

“The foreign labor markets for Filipino workers – except for medical professionals and technicians – will shrink considerably this year, as the global economy declines,” the former administration legislator said.

The collapse of crude oil prices to $20-$25 per barrel is foreseen dampening to a large extent the demand for Filipino workers – from engineers to construction workers – in the Middle East, Bertiz added.

The kingdoms in the region heavily dependent on oil and gas income are anticipated to spend less aggressively on new public infrastructure. “The global economic recession will also reduce the demand for Filipino sailors as shipping traffic sinks,” Bertiz said.

The Philippines is the world’s second-largest supplier of licensed ship officers and the top provider of unlicensed ship ratings or non-officer crew.