Thirty-eight Filipino crew members of the MV Hondius landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on the night of June 19, finally back on Philippine soil after a 42-day quarantine in the Netherlands.
The seafarers had been confined abroad since May following a hantavirus outbreak aboard the expedition cruise ship that killed three passengers during the voyage. None of the Filipino crew tested positive for the Andes strain of the virus, and all stayed symptom-free across repeated rounds of monitoring, according to the Department of Migrant Workers.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac was at the terminal to meet them, joined by personnel from the Department of Health, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Bureau of Quarantine, the Manila International Airport Authority medical team, and the crew’s licensed recruitment agency. He passed along a directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructing the DMW, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the DOH to coordinate on getting the seafarers home safely.
“We wanted you to reunite with your families, masayang-masaya kaming nakarating kayo. If ever you need support, just reach out to us,” Cacdac told the crew. He thanked the shipowner and the manning agency for looking after the men throughout the period, saying both had treated them as family.
Once on the ground, the seafarers went through a second medical screening by the Bureau of Quarantine and received airport assistance along with financial aid from the DMW and OWWA. Their remaining wages and travel allowances will be released by the shipowner through the agency, which is also shouldering free transport and accommodation for the trip back to their home provinces. The group is made up of 24 hotel and stewarding staff and 14 deck and engine personnel.
For seafarers who decide to stay in the country instead of returning to sea, the DMW pointed to its National Reintegration Network as a path toward livelihood projects or business ventures. The DOH guaranteed the returnees free medical consultations and zero-balance billing at government hospitals as part of standard post-arrival support for returning overseas workers.
