90,000 members support the global campaign in combating the ‘horrors of piracy
The largest organization of mariners in the world – the Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP)-PTGWO-ITF – with around 90,000 members – is supporting the global campaign in combating the ‘horrors of piracy’ felt in the Gulf of Aden, the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of New Guinea, that have also affected Filipino seafarers deployed aboard foreign vessels passing the area.
“The situation in the area is now turning to be very alarming in the region,” said top maritime educator Vice Admiral Eduardo Ma. R. Santos (AFP, ret.) executive vice president of AMOSUP, and president of the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP), who pointed that what matters much now is the seafarers’ “preparedness,” and this is why, “the shipping firms that employ them are tasked to shoulder the expenses for their anti-piracy training, as the requirement is mandatory.” Currently, there are close to 400,000 Filipino seafarers who are deployed aboard inter-ocean vessels, based on the data provided by the Philippine Overseas Workers’ Employment Administration (POEA) headed by Administrator Carlos Cao, Jr.
Santos, a member of the multi-nation panel of discussants in the two-day 12th Asia-Pacific Manning and Training Conference (ASPACMTC) recently held in Manila, where piracy was a principal topic of debate, discussions and interactions, together with other important issues on crewing management, training and orientation of seafarers on cultural relations with their counterparts, hailed the enthusiasm demonstrated by delegates, including experts in the industry. Of the expected 350 delegates, more than 400 representing 30 nations, and more than 40 maritime and communication entities, and a huge group of crewing and training experts attended the confab, reported to be the “leading international maritime event of the year.”
The United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries are well alerted now, as well as the other concerned nations, including the Philippines must now address the problem “in full.” The Save Our Seafarers (SOS) Campaign group has reported that the seafarers’ death toll caused by piracy violence in the region over the past four years has already hit the 62 mark, the bigger number recorded in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. As of Nov. 11, 2011 pirates were holding at least 10 big ships and 243 sailors held hostage.
“Violence caused by piracy in the Gulf of Aden is not only a threat to international trade, but to regional and international security. World efforts to curb the pirates’ violence on maritime industry have, so far, failed. From 2000 to 2005, the Malacca straits have been the world’s major ‘hotspots’ of maritime violence. It’s the lack of well defined and organized government and governance, and extremely political instability contribute mainly to scourge of privacy there,” said Santos, a former flag officer in command of the Philippine Navy and vice chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Conference chairman Mr. Alastair Evitt, president of InterManager and managing director of Meridian Marine Management, slammed piracy’s horrors. He told confab delegates the fight against global piracy is “our priority,” as he praised the way the shipping industry has ‘united to fight.”
However, Evitt scored at the practice of releasing pirates captured by naval forces, describing it as “appalling.. He stressed the importance of ‘reducing’ the effectiveness of ‘ motherships’ and of the international community putting in place credible measures to’ trace and criminalize’ the ‘financiers of international piracy.’
Over the past four years, more than 4,000 seafarers were attacked. More than 1,000 were held hostage for many months “without proper nutrition,” and around 516 were made human shields against from another vessels.
Source: Manila Bulletin
