A ship has been charted by the labour authorities in Manila to collect “several hundred” Filipino workers in Benghazi and Misurata and bring them to Malta.

The MV Bridge, hired in Malta, will first sail to Benghazi and then to Misurata, with the operation expected to be completed by Tuesday, according to the Filipino Department of Labour.

The Philippines have a rapid response team in Malta, which is making the necessary arrangements to accommodate the workers being brought from Libya. It is also handling their flights home.

“Accommodation, particularly, poses a challenge to the team considering that at this time the country is at the peak of the tourist season,” the Philippines’ Employment Secretary, Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, said.

She said a travel agency executive estimated that it might take two weeks to complete airline bookings for 1,000 passengers.

The team personnel, led by consul general Leila Lora-Santos, were providing assistance at the airport, at the seaport and at the hotels, Ms Dimapilis-Baldoz said.

Meanwhile, she also thanked a young Filipino priest in Malta, Fr Aldrin Alvarado, who made arrangements for more than 50 oil workers evacuated from Libya to be accommodated at the Millennium chapel, in Paceville, for a few days before continuing their journey home.