Tag: Philippines

SOS campaign aims to raise public awareness on the deleterious effects of piracy Seafarers' organisations, shipping companies together with business leaders and the biggest ever grouping of shipping industry associations, which have joined forces to campaign against Somali piracy, have received a welcome boost from the British and Philippine Governments confirming their support for the global SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign.In the Philippines, the Filipino Labour and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said in a public statement that the world's number one source of world-class seafarers is morally bound to support global action to ensure the welfare and protection of seafarers. Baldoz lauded the SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign for its "unrelenting" efforts to raise public awareness on the deleterious effects of piracy, particularly in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean."We are always mindful of the policy of the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III for enhanced overseas foreign workers protection," she said. Foremost of this is to push for global call to stamp out piracy in the high seas, which is now affecting global maritime commerce," she added.Source: Seatrade Asia

MARINA will be the lead agency of the week-long activities The Philippines will celebrate the 2011 National Maritime Week (NMW) on Sept. 26 to Oct. 1 nationwide, with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) as the lead agency of the week-long activities, with President Benigno S. Aquino III and Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Secretary Manuel "Mar" A. Roxas II as top government brass invited to grace the celebration, among others.MARINA Administrator Emerson M. Lorenzo said in a press conference that the celebration banners the theme, "Piracy Orchestrating the Response" adopted after the theme of the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s celebration of 2011 World Maritime Day, in agreement with the government and industry partners.Lorenzo told maritime reporters that the designation of this theme is both "timely" and "relevant" to the country, as the Philippines at this point in time supplies "more than a quarter of qualified, competent and certificated" seafarers for the "international seaborne trade," stressing that with this number, Filipino seafarers are among those nationals "most vulnerable" to piracy attacks.IMO has placed at 1.2 million to 1.5 million the number of seafarers belonging to the international crew fleet. The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) headed by Secretary Rosalinda ...

Informing EC of corrective measures which will improve maritime training To keep Filipino seamen crewing on European ships, the Philippines has formally informed the European Commission (EC) of corrective measures it has taken to improve maritime training in the country, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said on Monday.Baldoz said Ambassador to Brussels Enrique Manalo submitted the government report to the European Commission Maritime Safety Agency (Emsa), which had noted "deficiencies" in the local maritime education, training and certification system in a visit by Emsa inspectors to the country in 2010."The timely submission of the report demonstrates the country's commitment to comply with the deficiencies and ensure that the quality of education, training and competencies of our seafarers are safeguarded," Baldoz said in a statement.She said Manalo handed the report on Aug. 26 to Deputy Director Zoltan Kazatsay of the Directorate General for Mobility and Transport of the EC.Baldoz said the Philippines' Maritime Training Council gave "serious and prompt attention" to the major concerns Emsa raised in the areas of maritime education and training, quality standards, certification and on-board training requirements, need for management level courses, and improvement of training equipment and facilities, Baldoz said.The European Union (EU) had expressed concern the ...

221 rescued The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Sunday that 221 passengers and crew were rescued when their interisland ferry ran aground as it neared port in Cebu City in the Visayas.Among those rescued were several ranking government officials as well as Korean and Japanese tourists who were on board the fast craft "Weesam Express 8" on their way from the island province of Bohol to Cebu, said Commander Rolando Punzalan, the chief of the PCG station in Cebu.Punzalan said the ferry left Tagbilaran City in Bohol at 4:30pm on Saturday and was to arrive in Cebu City two hours later at 6:30pm.But 30 minutes before its expected arrival, Punzalan said the PCG received a distress signal from the captain who reported the ferry ran aground near Cebu's neighboring city of Talisay.Among the rescued passengers were Dr. Susana Madarieta, the regional head of the Department of Health; Efren Carreon, the regional chief of the National Economic and Development Authority; and Edward Villarta, the regional head of the National Bureau of Investigation.One of the passengers, who requested anonymity, complained the PCG craft and other vessels arrived late at the scene, resulting in a long delay in the rescue efforts that ...

These make a significant contribution to the country's economic stability Filipino seafarers earn an estimated US$1 billion a year for their home economy, according to the Philippines department of labour and employment (DOLE).Filipino seafarers number about 300,000 and make up a significant proportion of the world's maritime workforce. Addressing the first-ever international seafarers' families' convention in Manila on 4 and 5 August, DOLE secretary Rosalindo Dimapilis-Baldoz said that money remitted home by Filipino seafarers made a significant contribution to the country's economic stability, and helped the government fund various development projects.For a report of the international seafarers' families' convention, see: http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/6289Source: ITF

The Philippines is planning to build a new shipping terminal The Philippines is planning to build a new shipping terminal with South Korean funding in Aurora province in central Luzon.The P2.4bn ($56.5m) project will be sited in Aurora Pacific Economic and Freeport Zone, and a feasibility study estimated that the terminal could handle more than 700,000 tonnes of cargoes a year.The terminal will be able to handle panamax vessels and be equipped with berthing facilities, a container yard and cargo handling equipment.The new facility is expected to serve as an alternative to Manila port for shipments destined for central and northern Luzon.Source: Seatrade Asia

On August 4 and 5 The Philippines will host the first-ever International Seafarers' Family Convention on August 4 and 5. The convention has the theme "The Bonds of Families, the Success of the World", and aims to strengthen ties among seafarers' families and herald the contribution of the maritime industry to the Philippine economy.Led by Mrs Marissa Oca-Roble and the GiG Foundation the event will be held at the Philippine International Convention Centre and 1000 delegates are expected to take part with seafarers and officials from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Great Britain, Netherlands and Bangladesh attending.The convention will be opened by President Aquino of the Philippines and a message to seafarers and theirfamilies will be delivered by Stuart Howard, assistant general secretary of the ITF on behalf of ITF president Paddy Crumlin.The agenda willinclude discussions on empowering women, budgeting and family bonding, piracy response,and HIV/AIDS, and have seperate sessions for young people. Speakers include Roy Paul of the ITF Seafarers' Trust and ITF AIDS advisor Dr Asif Altaf.Over 100 maritime and other companies, associations and organisations will take part, as well as maritime schools.Source: ITFFor more information, you can visit http://www.isfc.info/

The cause of the problem is not clear The Philippine coast guard and fishermen rescued 168 people who were on board a passenger ship that tilted for three hours before sinking early Sunday in the central Philippines, officials said.The steel-hulled M/V Asia Malaysia was heading from the central Cebu region to Iloilo province on an overnight trip when it began to tilt to its right, or starboard side, at dawn Sunday, coast guard chief Admiral Ramon Liwag said. The cause of the problem was not immediately clear.The ship's captain sent a distress call to the coast guard and ordered all passengers and his crewmen to abandon the 2,400-ton vessel, which tilted about four miles (six kilometers) from its destination before sinking amid rain, coast guard spokesman Lt. Commander Algier Ricafrente said.Coast guard vessels, fishermen and two passenger ships saved 168 passengers and crewmen from the ship, which had a capacity of 550 people, Ricafrente said. It was unclear how many people the M/V Asia Malaysia was carrying.A coast guard helicopter was scouring the area for other possible survivors and to check whether there was an oil slick from the ship, he said.Although the weather has improved, rains were still battering ...

There must only be 'one' Administration for 'all regulations of the STCW as amended Participants to the International Maritime Organization (IMO)-sponsored five-day 2011 National Seminar and Workshop to the Standard Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STWC)Convention and Code, have urged the Philippine government to designate only a single agency to fully implement the STCW Convention and Code (as amended in 2010) on or before January 1, 2012.During the seminar-workshop held at the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) at Kamaya Point, Barangay Alas-asin here, participants, who belong to the private sector and are respected stakeholders in the country's maritime circle and shipping industry, passed and approved a resolution institutionalizing the agency as the lone authority in the administration of said STCW and Code.Under the resolution, the participants pointed out that "the Republic of the Philippines is a Party to the Convention and has committed fully to comply with the requirements of the 2010 Manila Amendments," stressing that under the said Convention, the requirement is there must only be 'one' Administration for 'all regulations of the STCW as amended."The participants, led by master mariner Capt. Victor S. Del Prado, Chief Marine Engineers Alfredo M. Firme, Nelson P. Ramirez and Alfredo ...

Ro-Ro ports project costs several billion pesos Despite the fact that Ro-Ro ports are needed by a maritime country such as the Philippines, Filipino contractors are opposing a contract between the Philippine government and a French corporation to put up modular steel adjustable Ro-Ro ports on 72 islands in the archipelago.Why? Because the contractors want to build the ports themselves out of concrete. The whole project will cost several billion pesos so you can understand why the contractors want our government to cancel a contract and re-award the contract to them.Ro-Ro ports are needed by the Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll off) vessels that make the loading and unloading of cargo so much easier and faster. In the traditional sea vessels, gangs of stevedores spend many hours and days trudging up and down gangplanks to carry off or into the holds of the vessels sacks of produce. With a Ro-Ro, the front of the vessel is simply lowered and trucks loaded with cargo drive into and out of the vessels hold. It takes only minutes to do this.Thus, the vessels and the businessmen save precious timeand money. The Ro-Ro was adapted for peacetime use from the World War II landing craft that ...