Seafarers

IN what could be considered a reward for braving the pandemic and, in many instances, for serving onboard their ships beyond their contracts, seafarers in over 9,000 ships worldwide will enjoy a 4.5 percent increase in wages and compensation over two years starting January 1, 2022.

By Yashika F. Torib, 29 Sep 2021 A Filipino seafarer who remains stranded in Fiji, New Zealand has exposed the illegal activities of the manning agency that sent them overseas and eventually abandoned them without pay.

By CNN Philippines Staff, 25 Jun 2021 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 25) — The country’s seafarer deployment is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said Friday.

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by Rudy Santos (The Philippine Star), 17 Aug 2020 MANILA, Philippines — More than a thousand Filipino seafarers have been recalled by foreign cruise line operators that will resume sailing to Europe and Mediterranean itineraries, but thousands more still have to wait another two to three months due to travel restrictions in other countries.

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By YASHIKA F. TORIB, 13 May 2020 The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) anticipates a slowdown in the deployment of seafarers, even if the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted, due to global shipping downturn.

By Raffy Ayeng, Manila Times, 10 Feb 2020 Filipino crewmen on cruise ships could soon be feeling the fallout from the the 2019 Novel coronavirus (2019nCov) outbreak.

by Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star), 9 Feb 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Filipino seafarers may now go to the Middle Eastern states following the partial lifting of the total deployment ban to Kuwait, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) announced yesterday.

by Mikkah F. Factor, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jul 13, 2019 PH seafarers need lifeline or sink amid global rivals The Philippines remains among the world’s top sources of seafarers, but its maritime industry is at an alarming ebb.

BY BRENDA V. PIMENTEL, Manila Times, Sep 9, 2017 House Bill (HB) No. 5685 entitled “Instituting the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers” impresses me as an initiative of translating into national law the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC 2006), which the Philippines ratified about five years back. The convention embodies up-to-date standards of existing international…

INQUIRER.net US Bureau, November 26, 2016 SAN FRANCISCO – A controversy is brewing in Victoria over the presence in Canadian waters of a ship crewed by ten British officers and 29 Filipino seafarers.

MANILA – Filipino sailors on dollar-earning Greek ships will be fine, relatively unaffected by the crisis in Greece, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said in a news release Sunday.

From the Department of Labor and Employment Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, chairman of the Governing Board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), announced that the Board has issued a resolution adopting guidelines on the limits of high-risk areas and benefits due to seafarers that apply to the Internationally-Recognized Transit Corridor (IRTC) within…

Filipino sailors on board foreign merchant ships are likely to send home by bank transfers a record $5.5 billion this year, mainly on account of increased deployment to Europe, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said on Friday.

From the Department of Foreign Affairs The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that the European Commission Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DGMOVE) acted favorably on the department’s request for additional time, which would allow the Philippines’ Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to implement structural and policy changes to meet regulatory standards set by the…

The mechanism is the only one in the ILO for setting the basic wage for any industry.

As the country awaits the audit results of the influential European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) on the employment fate of our Filipino officers assigned to man European vessels, here now is much-delayed news from our esteemed colleagues in Congress.

The Senate on Monday approved a bill seeking to avert the possible blacklisting of some 80,000 Filipino seafarers from vessels from the European Union (EU), the same day the House of Representatives approved on third reading a counterpart bill.

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.

MANILA – Being a seafarer was a childhood dream for Alex de La Cruz. He was raised in the southern part of the Philippines, where most of his neighbors and relatives were working as seafarers.

MANILA – Good news for the Filipino seafarers who comprise about a third of the global maritime fleet: the Maritime Labor Convention 2006, which commits stakeholders to ensure decent work for seamen and level playing field for shipowners, has entered into force for the Philippines.

Because the Philippines had flunked the first time, a second time would have dire consequences. We’re talking here about the second audit made by the European Maritime Safety Administration (EMSA) last April on the reported deficiencies of the Philippines on the international Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is seeking “vigorous and sustainable reforms” in the maritime industry for the Philippines to pass the European Union safety audit in October and be able to save the jobs of Filipino seafarers boarding European Union-flagged commercial vessels.