MANILA — The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) inspectorate in Italy announced it has secured an agreement that will help crew members of the ill-fated luxury cruise ship "Costa Concordia," of whom 600 are Filipinos, to get some financial assistance from the owners of the vessel.

The team – led by ITF coordinator Francesco Di Fiore and involving Leo Gaggiano, who is responsible for the cruise sections of Italian unions Federazione Italiana Trasporti - CISL, Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Trasporti -CGIL and UIL Trasporti – took on the task of liaising with ITF unions in crew members’ home countries and acting as a link with the company.

They also visited crew in hotels so that they could relay their needs to the company.

Following the inspectorate’s intervention, the entire multinational crew on board the Costa Concordia received a letter from the company agreeing to provide them with a number of benefits, such as: pocket money for initial expenditure; a consolidated salary payment up until the end of the period specified in their employment contract, with a minimum of two months’ basic wages and cover of up to USD3,570 for the loss of personal effects.

These have been the first steps. We are also visiting crew members in hospitals across Italy. These include: one Indonesian seafarer, who is in a critical condition in Siena – his family will be flown in by the company and a female Russian crew member who remains in a hospital in Rome – the Seafarers’ Union of Russia has been informed," De Fiore said.

“Repatriation of the crew - in total 1,023 - is almost complete. Around 20 of them are still waiting for problems regarding visas or flights to be resolved,” he added

Sixteen people are known to have died when the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy on Jan. 13 with at least 16 more missing. Of them, two crew members were reported to have died and three were unaccounted for. (PNA)

RMA/PFN