Grand Princess readying repatriation of remaining Filipino crew

Consul General Henry S. Bensurto Jr., bidding farewell to the Grand Princess Filipino crew as the ship departs Pier 35 in San Francisco. CONTRIBUTED

SAN FRANCISCO — The Grand Princess, with 91 Filipino crew members still aboard with the rest of its crew, will join other Princess ships already in the LA area, and from there, arrange for repatriation, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) announced.

Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Henry S. Bensurto, Jr. sent off Filipino crew members onboard the Grand Princess from San Francisco Port on Wednesday around 6 p.m. (Pacific Time) as the ship sailed off to Princess Cruises’ headquarters in Los Angeles.

“In the interim, all crew fleet-wide will remain onboard in the care of Princess until which time a plan of repatriation can be successfully executed,” stated the CalOES update.

Bensurto called one of the crew members on the phone to check on their situation. The crew member said that all Filipino crew members were well and in good spirits, but were hoping they would be repatriated soon to the Philippines.

Bensurto has been coordinating with California State agencies and Carnival Corp. and Princess Cruises management on the repatriation of the remaining Filipino crew, who finished their quarantine period on the ship on April 4.