Seafarers

MANILA, Philippines -The number of Filipino seafarers held captive by pirates has increased with the latest hijacking of a chemical tanker with 18 Filipino crewmembers on Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Dutch ship owners want their ships to be manned by an all-Filipino crew, from officer down to ratings (non-officer) rank, an envoy said Tuesday. The Netherlands Ambassador to the Philippines Robert Brinks disclosed during the reception he hosted at this residence on Monday night on the occasion of the 11th meeting of the Philippines-Netherlands Joint…

THE amended Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) Convention has imposed stricter rules on the hours of work for the shipping lines’ crew members when at sea but little has been made to address piracy.

The International Maritime Organization will strengthen and overhaul a three-decade-old seafarers’ convention and code to improve sailors capacity and protect them against security risks, such as recurring piracy attacks off Somalia.

Major revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (the STCW Convention), and its associated Code, are set to be adopted at a diplomatic conference to be held in Manila from June 21 to 25, under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations specialized…

MANILA, Philippines – The maritime industry worldwide is suffering from lack of ship officers because many of them prefer to stay on land with their families after making sufficient earnings, industry experts said during the 11th Asia Pacific Heads of Maritime Safety Agencies Forum which concluded yesterday.

GENEVA, Switzerland – A Philippine labor official on Thursday said some 500 Filipino seafarers have fallen victim to pirates in the past 6 years, underscoring the growing problem of sea piracy in international waters.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino seafarers could be displaced by the debt crisis in Greece. Ernesto Herrera, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) secretary-general, said the economic slump in Greece might adversely affect shipping activities in Greece and other European countries.

MANILA, Philippines – Money sent home by Filipino seamen in the first quarter grew by 11% from a year ago to $888.95 million, but a prolonged economic crisis in Europe could hurt future remittances, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said on Sunday.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) — The Philippines has called on the international community to intensify cooperation against piracy which has now extended to other shipping routes.

Given the archipelagic nature of the country, it has always concerned me that there is so little government attention being given to improve the use of our waterways for the transportation of people and goods, or for that matter, in the crafting of laws that would encourage industries related to shipping.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino sailors working on foreign vessels have remitted a total of $3.4 billion in 2009, up by 12 percent from $3.043 billion in 2008, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has rejected a proposal to ban the deployment of Filipino seafarers to foreign vessels that ply the pirate-infested waters of Somalia.

The amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 will hurt more the seafarers than it helps, the Mariners Association for Regional and International Networking Organization (MARINO) said Saturday.

MANILA, Philippines—There is no need to ban the deployment of Filipino seafarers to foreign-flagged ships passing by the pirate-infested waters of Somalia because effective interventions are in place, the labor department said in a statement e-mailed to media outfits.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has yet to act on the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to ban the deployment of Filipino seafarers to vessels sailing dangerous waters.

Transport authorities have set harsher punishments for erring seafarers and will require them to render local service before allowing them to work abroad.

MANILA, Philippines—A Greek court directed the owner of MV Aetea Sierra to pay higher salaries to its crew that includes 12 Filipinos, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement Monday.

Amid the threat of kidnappings in the high seas, Filipino seafarers remitted a record $2.502 billion from January to September this year, the Trade Union of the Philippines (TUCP) said.

OSLO – The head of the Norwegian Shipping Association (NSA) in Oslo assured the families of seafarers from the Philippines that security and safety continues to be the top concern of their organization whose members employ up to 32,000 Filipino seafarers in their global operations.

MANILA – Labor Secretary Marianito Roque on Wednesday called on shipping companies to provide more protection for Filipino sailors after 16 of them were seized by pirates who took over a Greek-flagged supertanker off Somalia.

TACLOBAN CITY — A seaman who returned to the country last October 17 has revealed that 10 Filipino seafarers are still awaiting repatriation back to the Philippines after their ship was stopped by the Nigerian government from sailing back to their port of origin due to a violation of a local law.

MANILA, Philippines – Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk is poised to replace about 100 of their Danish captains with Filipinos as the firm expressed its deep satisfaction with the proficiency, skill and discipline of Filipino seafarers, an embassy report said.

Japan’s Diet has passed a new measure that would give more protection to Filipino seafarers particularly those deployed in vessels plying the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden.

For seafarers’ health research WALES, United Kingdom—Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III, a Filipino medical doctor based in Cardiff University here, won back-to-back awards from two different international health conferences in recognition of his research work on the health of seafarers.

VICTIMS of pirates may sue their employers for damages, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said yesterday, as it demanded better protection for Filipino sailors in Africa.

AFP – A union representing the Philippines’ 350,000 merchant seamen on Saturday demanded better protection for the sailors in Africa and warned freed victims of pirates may sue their employers for damages.

The Philippines, the world’s biggest supplier of merchant sailors, Tuesday called on fellow APEC members to improve the protection of ships against pirate attacks off Somalia.

President Gloria Arroyo has ordered a ban on the deployment of Filipino sailors for commercial ships that travel in the Gulf of Aden in order to prevent more of them from being held hostage by Somali pirates.

As vessels are laid up owing to sharp falls in world trade, up to 40,000 Filipino seafarers working for Japanese shipping companies stand to lose their jobs this year, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said yesterday.