PHL officials in urgent talks with EU on seafarer issues

PHL officials in urgent talks with EU on seafarer issues
Malou Talosig-Bartolome February 7, 2022 https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/02/07/phl-officials-in-urgent-talkswi...

WITH barely a month to meet a deadline for complying with sea-safety standards, officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) flew to Belgium Sunday for meetings with the European Commission.

Their mission: salvage the jobs of thousands of Filipino seafarers employed in European-flagged ships and vessels, maritime industry and diplomatic sources told BusinessMirror.

Marina estimates 50,000 Filipinos are working in EU-member-flagged ships, mostly from Malta, Greece, Norway and Germany. According to the EU, one out of five foreign crew members in the EU-flagged ships are Filipinos.

The seven-man delegation, led by Marina chief Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad, will have an audience with the EC to seek clarification on the “serious deficiencies” identified in the 2020 audit by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

Two days before their mission, the Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement urging the Marina to “comply” with the international standards on maritime safety, being the lead government agency in ensuring the country’s commitments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) are implemented.

The DFA said the EMSA has already identified the flaws on the Philippine compliance to STCW since the 2006 audit and had given the Philippine government 16 years to correct them.

“MARINA is responsible for the implementation of the STCW Convention. The EU has now given MARINA until March 10, 2022 to address deficiencies identified by EU since 2006. We strongly urge MARINA to comply. The livelihoods of thousands of our seafarers are at stake,” the DFA said.

A senior diplomatic official who refused to be named explained that the statement came out apparently to dissuade the maritime industry from an undue expectation from the DFA that this can be resolved in the diplomatic front.

“Getting the EC nod on STCW will not go through diplomacy. A charm offensive won’t work. We are not talking to a state. We have to comply with the standards set by the global maritime industry. They have been holding this for 16 years,” the official told BusinessMirror.

The Marina-CHED delegation is expected to also present to the EC the reforms they have instituted to address the flaws in the maritime training of seafarers. The EU Delegation to Manila summed up these deficiencies as: “Inconsistencies” in relation to competences covered by the education and training programs leading to the issuing of officers’ certificates, “inconsistencies” in several approved programs regarding teaching and examination methods; “inconsistencies” in monitoring of inspections and evaluations of the schools; and “concerning findings” on simulators and on-board training.

After a dialogue with EC auditors in Brussels, Marina and CHED have until March 10, 2022 to show compliance measures have been operationalized.

EC is expected to release its findings within the year.

If the Philippines does not pass the wringer, SCTW certificates issued by Marina retroactive to the date set this year will no longer be recognized by any EU-member ships. That means if a Filipino seafarer employed in a EU ship still has a valid SCTW certificate in 2 years, his employment will not be affected for the next 2 years.

Philippine Ambassador to the European Union Eduardo Jose de Vega said they are still hoping the EC would give the Philippines a passing mark.

“We hope we will be able to convince the Europeans. In case they vote against us, it doesn’t mean we will lose all the jobs of our seafarers. We’re counting on Marina on what needs to be done,” De Vega told BusinessMirror.