seafarertimes.com ~ Maritime News for Filipino Seafarers

Arrest OFWs who fled COVID quarantine facilities – DFA chief
Christia Marie Ramos - May 18, 2020 https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1276701/arrest-ofws-who-fled-covid-quarant...

MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday called for the arrest of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who escaped from Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) quarantine facilities.

Philippines recognizes Filipino seafarers as “key workers"
15/05/2020 https://www.themeditelegraph.com/en/shipping/shipowners/2020/05/15/news/...

Resumption of sea trips moved to June 1
Mae Singuay - May 16, 2020 https://www.panaynews.net/resumption-of-sea-trips-moved-to-june-1/

BACOLOD City – Sea trips from this capital city bound for Iloilo and vice versa slated to resume on Monday, May 18, will not push through.

In an interview over radio station Bombo Radyo-Iloilo, Jose Venancio Vero, director of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Region 6, said they moved the resumption of sea trips to June 1.

At least 2,300 Filipino seafarers stuck in quarantine waiting for COVID-19 test results
CNN Philippines Staff May 16, 2020 https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/5/16/At-least-2300-Filipino-seafare...

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 16) – At least 2,300 Filipino seafarers are stuck in various quarantine facilities, waiting for coronavirus test results.

No information. No way off. 100,000 crew members remain in cruise ship limbo for months
Taylor Dolven May 17, 2020 https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article2425652...

Coronavirus cruise ship nightmares: America has abandoned its citizens at sea amid COVID-19
Brian Bailey May 17, 2020 https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/coronavirus-cruise-ship-nightmares...

Crew members like myself have not been treated with dignity. Working for a cruise ship shouldn't mean being sent to a floating prison for an indefinite period of time.

The pandemic grounded cruise ships indefinitely. But bookings are still rolling in.
Hannah Sampson May 15 https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/05/15/pandemic-grounded-cruis...

Lori Cooper got to thinking last week about late autumn in Canada, where it’s cold, and in other parts of the world, where it’s not. So the 61-year-old resident of Pickering, near Toronto, booked a Holland America Line cruise to the Caribbean in November.

Crew change nightmares, for all concerned
Mikhail Voytenko May 17, 2020 http://www.maritimebulletin.net/2020/05/17/crew-change-nightmares-for-al...

In nautical limbo: Where the clusters of cruise ships sit idle with crew still on board
May 13, 2020 https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/PHILIPPINES-CRUISESHIPS/...

What life is like for more than 90,000 cruise workers that have been stuck at sea for two months
Jonathan Levin and K. Oanh Ha May 13, 2020 https://fortune.com/2020/05/12/coronavirus-cruise-workers-stuck-at-sea/

Lauren Carrick and fiance Joe Harrison haven’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. The two dancers on Celebrity Cruises’s Infinity say being held aboard ships for almost two months has left them emotionally drained.