There was near hysteria in Manila before the IMO issued its initial “White List” of STCW-compliant member states in 2000. There was agitation after the BIMCO-ISF Manpower Update warning of officer shortages came out in 2005. What was that all about? The Philippines is still no.1 in the crewing game. It will remain so for a long time – and not necessarily because Filipino seafarers are exceptionally skilled and speak English.
The reason is simple: the country cannot provide enough jobs for its citizens. It’s the chief impetus for the Filipino hegira, the flight from the cruel realities at home. Last year, says the National Statistics Office, the unemployment rate stood at 7.5% with the rate of underemployment reaching 19.1%. This means at least 10 million Filipinos were either out of work or were only working part-time. Add the child labourers, who seem to be out of range of the statistical radar, and you have a huge, utter waste of human resources.
Although other kinds of work are available overseas, seafaring holds a special appeal to many young Filipinos. Not only is it a high-paying profession, at least for ship officers. It’s also been romanticised by maritime schools and returning seafarers, the latter with their tales of white-skinned damsels and of carousing at night with dollars instead of pesos in one’s pockets. The romanticism wears off, naturally, once the young lads board their first ship. Shipboard life is hard, and the work can be dangerous.
Yet, Filipinos will keep on toiling at sea. It’s not for love of the ocean or the nautical life. It’s for the money. Anyone who thinks seafaring is in the Filipino’s blood is deluded. In fact, many Filipino officers will retire from sea service once they’ve reached the rank of master and chalked up a few years of command. Some will quit earlier if they find comfortable, if less financially rewarding, jobs onshore. But not to worry. There’s more where they came.
In a real sense, the world is stuck with Filipino seafarers. There are so many of them on the world merchant fleet that the IMO will have no choice but to keep the Philippines perpetually on its “White List.” With other nationalities gradually abandoning seafaring in favour of more lucrative domestic jobs, the country’s share of the crewing market can only grow bigger. Should the nation be proud? ~Barista Uno
Who wouldn’t be proud of being in the IMO “White List? We should…having been considered a “Party to the STCW 1978” as amended. We have two standards of training and safety…one for foreign and one for local.Recently the government is intending to ratify the MLC 2006 convention on the same way and IMO has leaned back and allowed this big departure from the concept that “to be a party to the convention a Flag State should first;ratify the convention second: give it full and complete effect.” STCW sets one standard of MET. Marina has set two; STCW compliant in the foreign trade and lower standards in the domestic trade. The FSA and local shipping owners now want to ratify the MLC 2006 Convenion but would like to keep the Marina dual standard.When Miss Bautista wanted to comply with the STCW standards she was eased out of Marina. In other words Marina appears to be the tool of the domestic shipping lords.
someone in new york asked me this very question yesterday: why so many filipino mariners? your answer is different from mine but thought-provoking and i shall use it next time.