The cargo vessel MV Athens Bridge, which carried the nine Filipino seafarers infected with the so-called India variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has already departed last week for a travel to Vietnam, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Wednesday, May 19.

PCG Commander Michael Andag, commander of Port State Control Center National Capital Region – Central Luzon, told the Manila Bulletin that the vessel departed with new 19 Filipino seafarers on board on Friday, May 14.

Andag said the new crew members on board completed the health protocols implemented by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).

Last month, the Panama-flagged cargo vessel departed from India on April 22 and arrived in Haiphong, Vietnam on May 1. There, all of its personnel were subjected to a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

It was later found out that 12 crew members aboard the viral disease, nine were found to be infected with the India variant.

Captain Jeffrey Solon, officer-in-charge of MARINA Office of the Deputy Administrator for Planning, said four of those are currently admitted in a hospital in Manila, among them two are already recovering, while the two others are still under monitoring in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The eight crew members, who were infected with the viral disease, already recovered and completing the 14 days quarantine as per the BOQ directive and monitoring, the MARINA official told the Manila Bulletin on Wednesday, May 19.

The remaining nine seafarers disembarked the vessel on Thursday, May 13, and currently in a hotel facility in Manila for their quarantine.

“They were swabbed last May 14 and awaiting results,” Solon added.

The cargo vessel arrived in the country on Thursday, May 6, and requested a medical evacuation for the two crew members who both needed urgent medical care.

The vessel, at that time, was located 12 nautical miles west of Corregidor Island in Manila Bay.