Manila crews âunavoidableâ as WA exporters forced to navigate COVID waters alone Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss 8.06am Normal text size Advertisement Iron ore exporters keeping the nationâs economy afloat have no choice but to use crews from the Philippines as coronavirus restrictions make it near impossible to change over staff on West Australian soil. Health Minister Roger Cook floated a plan last year to ban Manila-based crews from being used by iron ore carriers amid a surge in positive cases on the ships but it was quickly abandoned due to the insurmountable logistical challenges.