Seafarers

The Democratic Independent Workers’ Association (DIWA) party-list representative is asking the House committee on overseas workers affairs to look into the recent sea piracy incidents involving Filipino seafarers.

Filipino seafarers are not threatened by a looming employment ban by the European Union against them for not complying with certain maritime standards, the Labor chief said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Amid threats of a hiring ban, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is adopting a comprehensive program to train more Filipino seafarers to be qualified for employment abroad. TESDA director general Joel Villanueva said the government is now working on a training and assessment program to upgrade the skills of…

MANILA, Philippines – European countries may stop hiring Filipino seafarers. Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz reported that the European Commission’s Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has found deficiencies in the country’s maritime training education and certification system that could lead to ban in deployment of Filipino seafarers in European Union-flagged vessels.

Overview of amendments to the Standard Employment Contract April 20 2011 Introduction Amendments Introduction The Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Standard Employment Contract (SEC) was last amended in 2000. A tripartite meeting to discuss proposed amendments was held in May 2008 with representatives from the manning agencies representing employers, the seafarers’ union and the government…

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is looking at the possibility that the Philippines can capture 50 percent of the global seafarer’s demand by 2016.

I wrote in this space the other week about the plight of Filipino seafarers, particularly new merchant marine graduates who aspire to get jobs on board ships through local manning agencies.

There are so many Filipino seafarers or merchant marines —more commonly known by the politically incorrect label seamen—that there is a joke that at any given time, there is a Filipino in every square mile of ocean or sea in this world.

MANILA, Philippines –  Seventeen Filipinos are among the crewmembers of a Greek-flagged supertanker captured by Somali pirates off the coast of Oman on Wednesday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz yesterday strongly condemned the killing of a Filipino seafarer in the hands of Somali pirates as a “senseless disregard for human life.”

The Philippine government should stop deploying seafarers in ships that don’t have safety practices to combat piracy in place, a US naval official said Monday.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is currently reviewing new certification requirements for international seafarers, including security training against pirates, which form part of the amendments to the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention and the STCW Code.

MANILA, Philippines—Of the more than 32,600 sailors who benefited from Japan’s Self-Defense Force’s “anti-piracy operations” in the Gulf of Aden during the past 18 months, at least 10,607 were Filipinos, according to the Japanese Embassy in Pasay City.

The Federation of ASEAN Shipowners’ Associations (FASA) has expressed opposition to the unilateral decision by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) to establish an ITF model wage scale, a benchmark on minimum wage for non – domiciled seafarers employed on national flag vessels.

Huddled together in the dark sooty hulls of their ships, often abandoned to their Somali pirate captors by governments and shipowners, as many as 650 seamen await their fate on the edge of the Indian Ocean.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Shipping Federation (ISF) has urged the Philippine government to ratify the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (MLC 2006).

MANILA, Philippines – They call it the “pirate alley,” for reasons clear to any seafarer who has ever sailed from the Middle East and India en route to Europe.

Manila (5 November) — As recent reports show the huge increase in the overseas remittance by Filipino maritime workers, Senator Edgardo J. Angara renews his call for better protection for their welfare.

The total number of Filipino sailors taken hostage by ransom-seeking pirates off Somalia has climbed to 110. Just last week, pirates seized 30 Filipino seamen in two separate hijacking incidents on Oct. 23 and 30. Those ships seized were the Singaporean oil tanker MV York with 14 Filipinos on board and the Liberian vessel, MV…

MANILA, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Monday urged the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to compel ships using the “Pirate Alley” off Somalia to build in fortified rooms where crew members can hide in the event of an attack.

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Loren Legarda has called for the immediate passage of the proposed Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers in order to protect the rights of the sector. Legarda noted that seafarers make up 25.83 percent of the country’s migrant work force. The country also supplies 28.1 percent of the world’s ship manning requirements.      

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 31, 2010) – Filipino sailors aboard foreign-flagged ocean-going vessels sent home a total of $2.461 billion in the eight months to August this year, up $250 million over the same period in 2009, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines reported Sunday.

When the ILO adopted the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), in February 2006, Director-General Juan Somavia said the Organization had made “labour history” for the world’s more than 1.2 million seafarers. Four years on, the Convention is expected to come into force in 2011 or early 2012. ILO Online spoke with Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director…

Manila (20 September) — Senator Edgardo J. Angara pays tribute to the Filipino seafarers and maritime workers around the world in commemoration of the International Seafarer’s Week and the World Maritime Day yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino seafarers would enjoy longer breaks under a new standard employment contract proposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

AS A MEASURE AGAINST ‘DRUG MULES’ MANILA, Philippines—The country’s maritime training schools and centers are now required to include in their maritime courses for seafarers topics on prevention of alcohol and drugs abuse in the maritime sector (Padams) and personal safety and social responsibility (PSSR).

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday it will continue to provide assistance to Filipino seafarers currently held captive by Somali pirates as it reiterated its call against high-seas kidnapping.

The Philippines called for a broader cooperation among member countries of the United Nations (UN) to fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia

The Japanese Shipowners’ Association would continue hiring and training Filipino seafarers — a move the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said would boost President Benigno Aquino III’s plan to support and protect sea-based workers.

Japanese ship owners will continue to provide assistance and training to Filipino seafarers, the head of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Friday, adding that the welfare of the country’s sea workers is one of the labor policies of President Benigno Aquino 3rd. In a statement, newly appoin-ted Labor Secretary Rosa-linda Baldoz said…