74 Pinoy seamen flown home from Belgium, also Belgian sailor married to Pinay

More OFWs from Kuala Lumpur and Brussels return home
Roy Mabasa July 24, 2020 https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/24/more-ofws-from-kuala-lumpur-and-brussels-re...

(excerpts)

An additional 425 stranded and displaced Filipinos were successfully flown home in two separate chartered flights from Kuala Lumpur and Brussels, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

Onboard the two flights that arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Thursday, July 23, were land-based workers, students, tourists, and seafarers affected by the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.

The Philippine government has so far repatriated about 98,000 Filipinos from all over the world, mostly land and sea-based OFWs, following the outbreak of COVID-19.

...

In Brussels, the Philippine Embassy assisted the repatriation of 74 Philippine seafarers and one Belgian seafarer married to a Filipino national. The seafarers were stationed aboard 11 different ships before they boarded their chartered nonstop flight via Air Belgium to the Philippines at the Brussels South Charleroi Airport on July 22.

All seafarers tested negative for COVID-19 before they boarded their flight, according to the Embassy.

An official from DEME NV Human Resource (HR) Manager (Maritime), employer of the Filipino seafarers, praised the group’s professionalism and hoped that DEME NV will again have an opportunity in the near future to work with the Filipino OFWs.