A British cruise ship worker has been stranded on a 'ghost ship' at sea for almost a year.
Jonny McNally, 34, boarded the 3000-passenger capacity Norwegian Jade in September last year for a six month stint cruising around the world.
But what was meant to be six months for the assistant cruise director has turned into almost a year after the coronavirus pandemic left him marooned.
After leaving County Antrim, Northern Ireland, to live with his girlfriend, Marjorie, 37, four years ago, Jonny now calls Subic, Philippines, home.
But when the country closed its borders in March and Jonny's tourist visa expired in May while stuck at sea, the crewman was left with bills to pay but no way of getting back.
Speaking from the ship, which now has just 170 essential crew onboard, he said today: "I was only meant to be on board for six months, I never imagined that I would be here for nearly a year.
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"I've done long stints on ships before but at least I had a job to do, now every day has become Groundhog Day.
"The ship has a capacity of over 3000 passengers but there's only 170 crew members on board at the moment.
"If it's lunchtime you will see people but I could go a week without seeing anybody if I wanted to.
"It's very weird and strange to see the ship with so few people on it.
"It feels like a ghost ship at night time because the lights are dimmed or turned off in places where they wouldn't usually be so if you're walking through the entertainment places everything is covered in white sheets in pitch black, it's pretty freaky."
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the ship was sailing from Hong Kong to Singapore - but realising early on how serious the situation could become, Jonny asked to terminate his contract early so he could fly home.
After cancelling all their cruises, the passengers disembarked in Singapore and the ship set sail for Dubai in April to allow any remaining crew members to get home.
But despite having a flight booked from Dubai to Manilla, on the morning Jonny was due to take off, the journey was cancelled when the city suddenly closed its airports, and the following day the Philippines closed its borders to non-Filipino nationals and visa-holders.
With no way of getting into the country to renew his since expired visa, Jonny is now stuck on board the ship, which has been moored in Naples since June - when Italy lifted its lockdown.
Jonny has been allowed to remain living in his quarters and receives a £7.60 [$10 USD] daily allowance from his company to spend on board - but has burned through his savings after his full pay stopped four months ago.
Jonny said: "I get up in the morning, I go and have lunch and I go and walk around the open deck.
"I try to get at least 10,000 steps in everyday but I do the same thing every day
"You have to try to be creative in certain ways to stay alert and not get down in the dumps.
"I still have bills to pay back home and in six weeks I will be totally broke."
Now Jonny has set up a GoFundMe and is asking strangers to dig deep so he can get home when the borders reopen.
"If I'd gone back to the UK I would be homeless - I would have nowhere to stay.
"But the Philippines has closed its borders and the Philippine government are not renewing any visas unless you are actually in the country.
"Until the borders have been lifted I have no way of getting home."
Jonny has launched a GoFundMe appeal as he's left with no income.
