TITLE:

World-class Filipinos Seafarers Keep the Philippines the World’s Manning Capital

INGRESS:
The Philippines is the world’s manning capital -- and it isn’t because labour is cheap.

The Philippines is the world’s top source of seafarers, as it has been for over 20 years. Filipino seafarers
make up almost 30 per cent of the world’s 1.5 million mariners. They are the single biggest nationality
bloc in the global shipping industry. “At any given time there will be around 250,000 Filipinos on board
merchant shipping vessels around the world,” notes Agnes Enesio, Odfjell’s Vice President for Crewing.

Filipino seamen are often the top recruits to man the containers, bulk carriers, tankers and other sea
vessels from Denmark, Japan, the United States, Panama, Liberia, Cyprus, Bahamas, Jamaica, Greece,
Malta, Singapore, Norway, Germany and other countries.

According to Toshitaka Hagiwara, the senior adviser of Komatsu Ltd., Filipinos seamen, who also
comprised 55% of the membership of the All Japan Seaman’s Union, although they are classified as
“non-domiciled special members”, operate around seventy per cent of Japanese maritime operations.

Most of them – or about 110,000 --work as able-bodied seamen, oilers and ordinary seamen. But
contrary to a common misconception, the Philippines is also the top supplier of maritime officers – there
were 86,636 Filipino maritime officers overseas in 2013, according to the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA).

According to documents from the Philippine Senate, Congress and the labour department, Filipino
seafarers are the most in demand in the world because of these outstanding qualities: technical
knowledge, flexibility, reliability, trustworthiness, industriousness and a command of the English
language.

A deeper look, however, shows that Filipinos are the top choice for two main reasons: Aside from
English-language proficiency, it’s a certain kind of political savvy or street smartness that sets Filipino
seamen apart from seafarers from other countries.

This savvy, which works especially for ordinary mariners who are not officers, is one that is almost
instinctive and deeply ingrained in the Filipino psyche. Learned through some form of osmosis from day-
to-day dealings, and is past down from generation to generation. It’s also a product of being colonized
for almost 400 years.

Pakikisama and Other Truly Filipino Values

As explained by Evi-ta L. Jimenez in her policy paper, “The Diaspora of Filipino Seafarers: A Look at the
Flag of Convenience (FOC) System,” written for the Center for People’s Empowerment in Governance:
“There exist implicit rules for getting along in any organization…the best behaviour and attitude that
low-paying Filipino seafarers can demonstrate (on-board) is to “go along” with the dominant views in
the organization. ‘Pakikisama’ is the Filipinos’ way to adapt and get along with the others. Oftentimes,
‘pakikisama’ (going along well) is combined with being ‘pasyensyoso’ (patient) and ‘matiisin’ (work
without complaint).

“This is a case in which having been subjugated by Western colonizers in the past worked out well for
the Filipinos,” Hyacinth Racel Sharma, a senior course developer with the Odfjell Academy in Manila
cheerfully assesses. “But there are also cases where Filipino cultural traits work against what is needed
to work effectively on chemical tankers and other deep sea transportation vessels,” she says. This is
where Odfjell Academy steps in to fill up the training gaps.

Basic Training that Needs Improvement

For sure, there is certainly no dearth of the supply of Filipino seafarers. Every year, around 40,000
students graduate from some 80 to 100 maritime schools, according to a 2011 United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report.

For aspiring Filipino seamen, the first step is to complete a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation,
Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering or basic seaman course from maritime schools. Mostly, the
courses have a three-year curriculum, which includes classroom instruction and 12 months of on-board
training.

Then candidates have to take the seaman’s state board exam. The Standards of Training Certification
and Watchkeeping (STCW) is the seaman training certification required by the International Maritime
Organization (IMO).

Finally, an aspirant becomes a registered seaman in the Philippines by acquiring a valid Seafarer's
Identification and Record Book (SIRB) from the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA). This document
proves that the candidate passed the minimum standard requirements for the seamanship profession
and trade and is now a licensed mariner.

Professional registrations and the licensure examinations are given by the Board of Marine Deck and
Engine Officers of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA.)

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of irregularities in Philippine regulatory bodies, and the shipping industry
is not spared,” notes Sharma. “Like other institutions in the country’s entire educational system, many
maritime schools also offer low-quality training and instead prey on aspiring seamen by charging
exorbitant school fees.”

On average, a candidate will spend up to US$6,000 to complete their schooling. “To put this into
context, poor families in fishing communities earn only 80 per cent of that amount in a year, and are
generally composed of six family members. This means that poor families will be forced to invest all
their earnings – and hopes – on a single member, and even to borrow money or sell lands or property
just to send a son to a maritime school.” Sharma explains.

A general lack of transparency illustrated characterizes Philippine society and government. Transparency
International gave the Philippines a score of 35 out of 100 in its Corruption Perception in 2016, the same
as in 2015. A score of 100 indicates a corruption-free government. This ranks the Philippines 101st
among 176 countries –in the lower half of the corruption index, where which has consistently ranked for
years. Denmark topped the list with a score of 90 while Somalia, which was at the bottom of the
rankings, scored 10. The global average score was 43.

“The means of corruption include graft, bribery, embezzlement, backdoor deals, nepotism and
patronage -- and all of these exist in the maritime industry and impacts the quality of education the
average Filipino seaman receives,” Sharma laments.

This substandard training can cause the “disconnect” that can sometimes happen between European
maritime officers and Filipino seafarers. Foreign officers sometimes complain that Filipinos lack initiative
and do not admit mistakes. Filipinos on the other hand are coming from a belief that no one listens to
them when they speak and their suggestions are ignored – and the fear that it’s not in their place to
speak up.

“But such maladapive traits can be unlearned. Like skills and knowledge, attitudes can be changed by
rigorous training,” Sharma asserts. A culture of transparency, compliance, safety and efficiency in the
shipping industry can be developed by training batch after batch of mariners.

Indeed, such a culture is being forged slowly but surely.

Odfjell is the first among vessel operators in the global deep-sea transportation to take control of the
training of its cadets. Since 2012, it has run the Odfjell Academy. Even before that, it has been
collaborating with the John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University (JBLFMU) to establish the Odfjell
Cadet Programme where cadets are trained for work at sea.

At around the same time, the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association is also holding on-board training for
cadets.

SOURCES:
http://www.cenpeg.org/pol-study/phil/others/DIASPORA%20OF%20FILIPINO%20SEAFARERS%20-
%20Evita%20Jimenez.pdf

http://unctad.org/en/Docs/rmt2011_en.pdf

http://planetphilippines.com/migration/filipino-seamen-still-rule-the-seas-for-now/

https://marinerscanaman.edu.ph/L4SS/images/2014/june/Amante%202005%20Philippine%20seafarers
%20identity%20in%20multinational%20ships%20Mindayawan.pdf

PHOTOS:

John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University

Filipino seafarer on-board vessel

META:

TAGS:

Filipino seafarers, Filipino seamen, Filipino mariners, World Manning Capital, Philippines, Filipino
maritime officers, Agnes Enesio, Hyacinth Racel Sharma, ship management