LOOK at the house and buildings that you live in, the cars and trains that you ride, the food that you eat, the clothes you wear and the mobile phones and computers that connect you everywhere.
If there is one single biggest contribution of Filipinos to world trade in recent history, it’s probably the seafarers. These standards apply to all crew, even, for example, for waiters on cruise ships who are not likely to be required to perform firefighting or marine pollution duties. But every rank is given a minimum set of education and training requirements for STCW certification. Masters are required more training compared to the able body seaman, the lowest-ranked crew on ship.
Here comes now the European Union, with 27 member-states, the world’s biggest trading bloc and whose global trade is 75 percent dependent on the maritime industry. Garcia, who is also president of the Association of Licensed Manning Agencies , said EMSA was very strict in cross-referencing plans of action with the actual implementation. The deficiencies, she stressed, are mainly on the implementation.
“Like any inspector or customer, you keep telling your supplier, these are things you need to improve and the supplier says, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ They keep on coming back. But nothing is happening. So I guess they got fed up and said, ‘If you do not improve on these, we will not recognize the certificates issued by the Philippine government,” retired Navy chief Vice Admiral Eduardo Ma. Santos told CNN Philippines.
This prompted the EC to extend its recognition of the STCW certificates, allowing the 50,000 Filipino masters and officers to continue working in EU-flagged vessels, averting what Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said could have been a “crisis of monumental proportions.”INTERNATIONAL shipowners said they prefer to hire Filipino seafarers because of their competence.
“The shipping industry needs more employees than we currently have. So we would love to employ 30,000 graduates, rather than only 3,000. The issue that we have is that the 30,000 graduates don’t have the same level,” Gargiulo said.