EMSA reviews Phl compliance with maritime rules

MANILA, Philippines – Representatives of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) are in the country to reassess the Philippines’ compliance with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for Seafarers Convention.

The EMSA inspectors arrived last Monday and will stay in the country until Oct. 24, European Union Ambassador Guy Ledoux said.

He said the EMSA auditors would visit maritime schools nationwide to determine if the Philippine government has addressed the deficiencies found by an audit team last April.

“The EMSA has been monitoring the quality of Filipino maritime staff for many years now. I think they started that in 2006 and they have given government agencies involved in supervising the training of maritime schools enough time to improve,” Ledoux told The STAR.

“We hope that this visit will be successful because it is in the interest of both the Philippines and the EU. European shipping companies are eager to recruit Filipino workers,” he said. “So it will be a lose-lose situation if the Philippines will still fail to meet the EU standards for seafarers.”

Last April, the EMSA sent a team to audit the Maritime Industry Authority, the Professional Regulation Commission and the Commission on Higher Education.

The agencies are involved in regulating maritime education, training and certification.

The audit was in line with the Philippines’ commitment to the 1978 International Convention on STCW.

The EMSA auditors were dissatisfied with the progress the Philippines has made since a previous audit in March 2012.

The EMSA made clear that the final audit to be conducted this month would be “non-negotiable.”

Around 80,000 Filipino seamen on EU-flagged vessels may lose their jobs if the Philippines fails the final audit.

In an earlier interview with The STAR, Maximilian Strotmann, a member of the Cabinet of Vice President and EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, said the issue of certification for Filipino seafarers could not be negotiated.

“This is very important. It has nothing to do whether countries are friends or partners. We want to be partners but this is another issue if countries fail to meet the EU standards, we call it infringement procedure,” Strotmann said.

Strotmann noted that an unfavorable finding would affect Filipino seafarers who may be terminated and cancelled accreditation by EU-flagged merchant vessels. –Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star)