29 July 2020, Berlin – 167 Filipino seafarers departed from Hamburg International Airport today on board a chartered Condor Airlines flight bound for Manila. The flight passengers come from different maritime companies, with the bulk of over 70 crewmembers affiliated with Marlowe Shipping Management Company based in Germany. Other passengers were employed by various maritime companies in Europe. The flight arrangements were coordinated by BTH Travel Hamburg with the Philippine Embassy in Germany.
On hand to assist in the repatriation efforts in Hamburg were Philippine Ambassador to Germany Theresa Dizon-De Vega, OWWA Welfare Officer Sylvia Gabriel, and Consular staff Renante Estrella and Vieto Pilapil.
Before proceeding to their boarding gate, the seafarers were given links to the AKAP program and other benefits for displaced OFWs by the Welfare Officer Gabriel.
Ambassador Dizon-De Vega expressed the hope that the returning crewmembers, who worked mostly on cargo vessels, would eventually find employment again in the international maritime sector. END