BusinessMirror Editorial- Helping Filipino seafarers

Helping Filipino seafarers
BusinessMirror Editorial - October 4, 2018 https://businessmirror.com.ph/helping-filipino-seafarers/

The Philippines has been the world’s chief supplier of seafarers since 1987. It is common to find Filipinos navigating and working in vessels in any part of the seas all over the world.

A study made by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) estimates the number of worldwide seafarers today at 1.5 million, with 358,898 of them being Filipinos, the “single biggest nationality bloc” in the global shipping industry.

Last year overseas Filipino seafarers (OFS) remitted more than $5.8 billion to the country through banks, remittances that are certainly a big boost to the Philippine economy.

Dr. Conrad F. Oca, president and chairman of the Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP), one of the largest seafarers’ unions in the world with more than 100,000 members, said Filipinos are the most preferred seafarers because they are better trained and proficient in English, they have the capacity to learn the latest mechanics and trends in their profession and they are quite amiable and can easily adapt to the various cultures of their foreign counterparts.

But in order for the country to constantly produce world-class and globally competitive seafarers, particularly deck and engine officers, the industry needs the government’s help.

That’s why we are glad to hear from Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade that the government is pressing on with its campaign to persuade the European Maritime Safety Agency not to take out the country from a so-called white list, a possibility after Emsa ticked off last year several issues on the country’s standards of training, certification and watch keeping (STCW).

Emsa has been questioning the capability of the Philippines’s Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to ensure enforcement of the STCW, or the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, which sets minimum qualification standards for ship masters, officers and watch personnel.

Tugade said the local maritime sector is now fully compliant with the standards set by Emsa, a body that screens seafarers from different parts of the world who aspire to work with European flag vessels.

A growing number of Filipino sailors are being dispatched to Europe, especially to the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Greece and the Netherlands. There are about 100,000 Filipino seafarers deployed in European flag vessels and their deployment would be compromised if the Philippines is removed from the white list.

Marina Administrator Leonardo B. Guerrero said: “We have already submitted our initial report. We intend to submit our compliance status this month, and by the end of October, we expect that somebody from Emsa will be contacting us for us to demonstrate the proof of evidence for compliance.”

Included in the measures initiated by Marina are the extensive review and revision of seven existing national provisions and the development of six training course packages, all of which, Guerrero said, “are ready for implementation.”

But will these be enough to secure that the Philippines won’t be removed from whitelisted countries? And what is the government’s backup plan in case of failure to pass the Emsa review? Perhaps there should be one that involves not only Marina but the Labor department, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the seafarers unions, manning agencies and maritime schools.

Considered among the best seafarers in the world, Filipinos need not face the threat of being removed from the white list if only the government and industry stakeholders were diligently doing their duties.

The government should review the courses being offered to Filipino seafarers to meet STCW and Emsa requirements, to check if they are really up to standards, not just moneymaking schemes for maritime schools. It must help them meet the stricter rules and standards of the global maritime industry so that more of them could be deployed as engine and deck officers in international vessels and maintain the Filipinos’ status as the “most wanted” seafarers in the world.