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| overseas Filipino sailors |
TUCP secretary general and former Senator Ernesto Herrera
said the rise in remittances from sea-based migrant Filipino workers is due to
increased enlistment by ship owners in Europe and Asia.
“A growing number of European and Asian shipping firms is
disbanding their multinational crews, and replacing them wholesale with
all-Filipino personnel that are younger and more able,” says Herrera.
“Foreign employers find Filipino sailors quick learners,
and easier to train compared to other nationals. This may be due to their
superior instruction here, apart from their ability to understand English,” he
adds.
About 229,000 Filipino sailors are on board merchant
shipping vessels around the world at any given time, data from the Department
of Labor and Employment show.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)
reports that in 2007 – the year for which the most recent data are available –
Filipino seafarers were employed by 1,157 registered/accredited manning
agencies, up from 869 in 2006.
The Philippines, says POEA, has been the world’s leading
supplier of seafarers since 1987, making it the manning capital of the world.
Overseas assignments
Data in 2007 showed that Filipino seamen were scattered
aboard vessels bearing various flags of registry: Panama – 51,614; Bahamas –
29,681; Liberia – 21,966; Singapore – 10,308; Marshall Islands – 9, 772; United
Kingdom – 8,172 ; Malta – 7,513; Cyprus – 7, 052; the Netherlands – 7,017; and
Norway – 6, 975.
By vessel type, here are the 2007 statistics on Filipino
seamen: passenger-type – 47, 782; bulk carriers – 42, 356; containers – 31,
983; tankers – 25,011; oil/product tankers – 14, 462; general cargo
ships – 10,754.; chemical tankers – 7,502 ; tugboats – 6,610; pure
car carriers – 5,742; and gas tankers – 3,471.
By type of work, the 226,900 local seafarers deployed
overseas in 2007 were assigned as follows: seamen – 31,818; oilers – 19,491;
ordinary semen – 17,355; mess men – 7,810; chief cooks – 7,778; bosuns – 7,737;
third engineers – 7,056; third mates – 6,599; and waiters – 6,388.
Global crisis
In late 2008, even as the global financial crisis was
wreaking havoc on virtually every major economic sector, the manning industry
suffered minimal setback in terms of job losses.
“The bulk of the seafaring industry is not as affected as
people might think,” says Miguel Angel Rocha, vice-president for business
development of CF Sharp Crew Management, Inc., one of the country’s leading
manning companies. His firm is now the major business of CCF Sharp, a port
agency business began in the late 1930s by his grandfather and business partner
CF Sharp. It is also the first Filipino manning company to be certified as
compliant with ISO 9000 Standards.
“The manning industry is a trailing indicator,” Rocha
tells Planet Philippines in an interview. “Only after
an event will it be affected. Lately, ships had been 15% laid up, or out of
service, and by 2009 the figure was 30%. But jobs were not lost because of the
`hot’ or `warm’ nature of the industry – a ship always needs engineers and crew
to operate, maintain and mobilize it.
“Chinese factories stopped ordering raw materials and so
bulk ships were the first to get affected. By November 2008 there was a
decrease in daily chartering from $180, 0000 per day to $3,000-5,000 per day in
September. After Christmas [of 2008] and New Year [of 2009], there were no more
orders and container ships were down. We don’t see a significant loss of jobs
but we do see slower growth.”
Prospects
Rocha is optimistically guarded about the prospects in
2010.
“Even if the global economy gets better, it will take a
long time before we see a recovery in our industry,” he stresses.
He warns that if the market worsens, jobs will be harder
to find.
“Also, seafarers now working might have to work less and
stay on vacation longer. There is no growth as ship owners try to maintain
their pace of work where they have 15 persons on board for the 10 actually
needed.”
But then, Rocha explains, the shipping industry is
cyclical. “A new ship means new crew in boom times. Now this is going to change
and so they’re laying vessels but not selling them for scrap, and giving the
crew longer shore leave. But then again, things might turn around and it
will be boom time again.”
Poaching of officers
Rocha is actually more concerned about the poaching of
senior officers, from master officers and chief mates to chief and second
engineers, which could have a more dramatic impact on the industry.
The global shortage of officers is oftentimes remedied by
a greater-rotation-cum-shorter-vacation solution. The problem is only a recent
development, according to Rocha. Officers and ratings used to be available,
mostly from the West.
“But as more ships were built in the ‘90s and today, as
the economy of the West expands, British, German and Norwegian officers can
earn as much or even more on land. They have left and have been replaced by
officers from Poland and Ukraine.”
The vacuum could have been filled up by the local manning
industry but unfortunately, there are not enough Filipinos with the required
skills and training.
Lack of training
“There are 80 to 100 maritime schools offering BS Marine
Transportation and BS Marine Engineering courses with a curriculum of three
years in the classroom and 12 months on board a ship prior to state board
exams, but less than 20 percent of the students get on board,” he laments.
Rocha cites two top maritime schools in the Philippines
where slightly under 15% of the most recent graduating class have trained on a
ship. Their graduates got certificates of academic equivalency but they are not
on board because the majority of ship owners do not make a provision for cadets
on board, who would also have to be paid.
“The problem is no one is willing to challenge ship
owners,” he continues. “Some 280,000 students graduate each year. That seems a
lot of seamen who could get a higher income for their families. But people
don’t see the uphill battle in getting the license, and educators prey on
seamen. Going abroad is not always pleasant experience and can be very
daunting.”
But Rocha notes that there is a bit of positive news on
the horizon as ship owners have lately invested in training. For one, the
Norwegian Shipowners Association has a program for cadets.
But without support from POEA and the Commission for
Higher Education (CHED), Rocha fears that maritime schools might not
participate or offer enough slots in the training and development of seafarers.
It remains to be seen if the government and the manning
industry could come up with policies and measures to address the problems and
challenges. Unless there is a serious effort to meet them head-on, less and
less Filipino seafarers may find their way into the open seas.
Source: Perla Aragon Choudhury
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