MANILA – Twelve Filipino seafarers from a vessel that made a two-day stop at a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hotspot in India tested positive for the virus, according to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA).
Capt. Jeffrey Solon, officer-in-charge of the Deputy Administrator for Planning of MARINA, said two of the infected seafarers of MV Athens Bridge were in critical condition and were brought to a medical facility.
The remaining 10 were put in separate cabins inside the vessel along with nine other Filipino crews who tested negative for the virus. The ship is currently anchored some 10 kilometers off Sangley Point in Cavite.
“The vessel was welcomed to the country as it was already in transit before the Philippines enforcing a ban on those who had traveled from India,” Solon said.
MV Athens Bridge left India on April 22 after two days at the port and docked in Vietnam five days later, where some crew members experienced COVID symptoms.
They then underwent a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test on May 1, and the vessel was diverted to the Philippines after 12 of the 21 all-Filipino crew were positive.
Solon said the seafarers might have contracted the virus from the stevedores who go to docked ships to remove lashing bars that hold containers together./PN
