Times must be hard when a local maritime union loses 48 collective wage agreements covering as many vessels as a result of fleet downsizing by foreign shipowners. Or when a crewing company owned by a prominent industry figure is forced to cut its staff and sell office furniture and equipment. Even so, the country’s manning and training sector seems to be weathering the storm. The engine is chugging along the course, notwithstanding seven basic issues which continue to bedevil the ship and everyone on board.

1. Non-centric seafarers administration – The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is on top of the labour export programme. Although fine for administrative control, the set-up has led to the tendency to lump seafarers together with land-based workers in disregard of the international protocols for seafarers’ employment. Misguided moves to amend the 1995 Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (Republic Act No. 8042) are the latest illustration of the problem, which is compounded by the Maritime Industry Authority trying to increase its control over seafarers.

2. Confused policy-making environment – By law and tradition, the task of enforcing the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention belongs to the inter-agency Maritime Training Council headed by the labour secretary as chairman. In reality, the substance and general direction of seafarers’ training are influenced by a small group made up of some board examiners from the Professional Regulation Commision, a handful of private training centre owners and four or five industry bigwigs.

3. Mechanical view of labour deployment – Not many people realise it but the whole tenor of the labour export programme was set in the early 1970s when Marcos’ labour minister, the late Blas Ople, coined the phrase ‘export of warm bodies.’ The term is a euphemism meant to gloss over the fact that migrant workers, including seafarers, are considered mere commodities.

4. Well-established flunkey system – We were the first to write openly about the widespread practice of using fresh maritime college graduates as flunkeys or un-paid office help as a prelude to their being put on board a vessel. Some manning executives have defended the system by saying that it helps to inculcate discipline in would-be ship officers and teach them office skills they can someday put to good use. But the practice is exploitative and demeaning to the individual and the merchant marine profession.

5. Laxity in quality standards – Most organisations engaged in manning and training are certificated by such audit bodies as Det Norske Veritas and Bureau Veritas. For a good number, though, it’s just a piece of paper to frame and display in their reception areas. Add to this the lackadaisical enforcement of quality standards by state authorities and you have maritime diploma mills, substandard training centres and a couple of unscruplous manning agents.

6. Lack of cohesion in the community – Even first-time foreign visitors won’t fail to notice how disunited the maritime community is. There are five manning associations (counting the Filipino Shipowners Association, almost all of whose members are into crewing and not ship operation as the group’s name indicates), five seafarers’ unions and two professional associations both claiming to represent deck officers. Rivalry between groups and internal squabbling mean that more time is spent talking than collectively addressing pressing industry issues.

7. Slow adaptation to technology – We don’t refer to Filipino ship officers, many of whom are serious about studying and learning the latest shipboard technologies, but to organisations and individuals that one would expect to promote a culture of technology. It was only recently, for instance, that the state-run National Maritime Polytechnic undertook its first major equipment upgrade since its establishment in 1978. There are close to 400 licensed manning agencies, yet only relatively few have their own company websites. As for corporate executives, some proudly tote Blackberries but don’t even bother to reply to email.

~Barista Uno