SIX of the 29 Filipino seafarers who have been stranded since May on board several Chinese vessels docked in ports in southeastern China have finally arrived home.

Representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) were at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Thursday to meet the repatriated seafarers who arrived on board a flight from Shanghai via Hong Kong.

The DFA said quarantine restrictions stalled the ships in southeastern China.

The Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs has been monitoring the seafarers since their cases were reported to the DFA.

The Philippine ConsulatesGeneral in Shanghai, Xiamen and Guangzhou attended to the needs of the seafarers and made representations with the ships’ principal and Chinese authorities for their disembarkation.

“The DFA has been working on their repatriation since their case came to light. Notwithstanding the challenges along the way, we finally brought home the six of them. We will definitely bring home the rest of the Han Rong fishers still in China,” said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Raymund Cortes is coordinating with Consul-General Josel Ignacio on options to repatriate the remaining 23 seafarers.

Arriola said that the DFA is organizing a chartered flight from Shanghai this December.

“We recognize the clamor from Filipinos across China, so we are mounting one for the holidays,” she said.