More than a thousand Filipino cruise ship workers are scheduled to dock today, Saturday, in Manila Bay on board the Norwegian Encore cruise ship after the operator, Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), decided to repatriate all the non-essential crews currently in the Caribbean and European waters.
After a low turnout of passengers amid the pandemic, the NCL may have realized that the cruise industry in those parts may not ready to do business, well at least until November 2021, according to travel consultant, Manny Geslani.
“Keeping the crews on board the ships will be added expenses to their rising financial deficits at $174 million a month,” the NCL said.
Last December 2020, the Filipino crews were flown to Aruba after staying for two months in plush hotels in Manila to board the Norwegian Joy for their long voyage to South America.
They were mobilized by Cf Sharp Crew Management Inc., the accredited manning agency for NCL.
However, the pandemic delayed the start of US cruises by all major cruise operators and moved their schedules to November 2021.
“Strict guidelines from the US CDC [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] has forced NCL to bring home the Filipino crews instead of keeping them on board till late this year,” Geslani said.
The 1,250 sea-based overseas Filipino workers on board Norwegian Joy would be flown to Manila on March 15, 2021, while the cruise ship Encore collected some Filipino crews on its journey from Southampton to Asia.
“This will be a long and sad journey home for all the Filipino crew as their hopes and dreams to be the first to set sail had been dashed due to the continuing ravages of Covid-19,” Geslani added.
These seafarers have made countless sacrifices, like undergoing RT-PCR tests and quarantines in hotels prior to joining the ships and ultimately providing for their family, “but these dreams have evaporated,” Geslani added.
He said the Norwegian Encore, a ship weighing 170,00 metric tons and capable of carrying 4,500 passengers, may have to stay anchored off shore in Manila Bay for quarantine protocols.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard will monitor the swab tests for the Covid virus for the returning crewmembers.
According to Crew Center, the decision to cut short the planned cruises did not come easy to Norwegian and was not in the company plan.
The cruise line operator promised the repatriated Pinoy crews that they’ll be prioritized for new assignments “as much as possible.”
Image credits: AP
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