Kidnap-prone Filipino seafarers keep remittances afloat at $2.5 billion

Amid the threat of kidnappings in the high seas, Filipino seafarers remitted a record $2.502 billion from January to September this year, the Trade Union of the Philippines (TUCP) said. The increase in remittances is attributed to the rising enlistment of Filipinos in the world’s ships, TUCP secretary-general Ernesto Herrera said Tuesday. “Foreign employers find Filipino sailors quick learners, and easier to train compared to other nationals," Herrera added. According to him, several European and Asian shipping firms have disbanded their multinational crews to replace them with all-Filipino personnel. Filipino seafarers from all major destination ports in the world have increased their remittances this year. Remittances from Filipino seafarers in Norway soared by 110 percent to $229.551 from $109.079 million from the same period last year. Filipinos from Japan also boosted their remittances 57 percent to $222.505 million from $141.886 million last year. Double to triple-digit increases in remittances from Filipino seafarers were also recorded in the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Greece, Cyprus, Netherlands, Denmark, Oman, Hong Kong and Sweden. These developments offset the 24 percent drop in remittances from Filipino seafarers in the US, which experienced a slump in the economy since last year. But even the TUCP admitted that the continued kidnapping of Filipino seafarers in the Horn of Africa is a great concern to them. About 67 Filipino seafarers remain locked up by pirates on five vessels in Somalia, while one is in Nigeria. The TUCP renewed its appeal to the International Maritime Organization and the shipowners to repel pirates and protect seafarers. Filipinos make up a third of the world’s seafarers, making them the most visible nationality in the world’s ships as well as the most vulnerable to pirate abductions. Some 229,000 Filipino seafarers are on board the merchant shipping vessels around the world at any given time. Filipino seafarers’ remittances accounted for 20 percent of the aggregate remittances from all overseas Filipino workers in the nine-month period. - GMANews.TV