Amid the worldwide crewing crisis, 15 Filipino seafarers are headed home after Panama signed off on the swap for humanitarian reasons.

Some of the seafarers had been aboard the 51,218-dwt product tanker PTI Sextans (built 2007) for a year or more, James Bamber of Wilford & McKay and Shipsagent Group told TradeWinds Tuesday, as it sat arrested in Cristobal.

"The complexity behind this is quite extraordinary," said Bamber, who worked with Panama's Ministry of Health to get approval.