The group emphasized that ship owners are already considering replacing Filipino seafarers with other nationalities due to the country’s inability to deploy crews, for their ships.

“If this happens, thousands of Filipino seafarers will lose employment and, in effect, a great loss of remittance to the economy,” the group said through one of its representative, lawyer Iris Baguilat, president of Doehle Seafront Crewing Manila, the crewing arm of Germany-based Doehle Group.