PHL agencies eye 50% of global seafarer demand

Even as Somali pirates continue to hold captive at least 126 Filipino seafarers, the country's seafarer manning industry said it is looking at capturing at least 50 percent of the total global demand for seafarers. In a release posted on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) website on Friday, leaders of the Joint Manning Group (JMG), the umbrella organization of manning agencies for sea-based employment, said “the seafaring industry is well on its way to achieving the target." “[Manning agencies] have been investing so much in trainings and capability building lately," the release noted. Josephine Francisco, director of the Filipino Association for Mariners Employment Inc. (FAME), said the industry will further maintain its hold as the number one provider of highly skilled seafarers worldwide. According to the POEA, about 30 percent of mariners worldwide are Filipinos. In another estimate, the Apostleship of the Sea, a UK-based advocacy group, said that of some 1.2 million seafarers worldwide, a fourth or more than 300,000 are Filipinos, Francisco added the industry has invested “heavy resource" in putting up world-class training facilities and modules for Filipino seafarers. “[POEA Administrator Carlos] Cao welcomed the development as he said this jives with the government’s effort to increase job opportunities for Filipinos. Moreover, the seafaring industry represents quality deployment of Filipino overseas workers," the release stated. For his part, Captain Gaudencio Morales, director of the Philippine-Japan Manning Consultative Council (PJMCC) said Filipino seafarers, from ship captains to mates, are “well-equipped to man even the most sophisticated sea vehicle in the world." The release did not note, however, if such upgrading of training methods included those relating to safety practices for seafarers in cases of piracy attacks. Records from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) show there are at least 126 Filipino seafarers on board 12 vessels currently held captive by Somali pirates. The latest incident included as many as seven Filipino seafarers on board MV Beluga Nomination, which pirates attacked off Seychelles on January 22. (See: EU-NAVFOR: Pirates seize ship with 7 Pinoy seafarers) Some 542 Filipino seamen from 45 vessels have been kidnapped in the Gulf of Aden since 2006, according to the DFA. Of this figure, 461 seamen from 39 ships have been released. A separate release by the United Filipino Seafarers said that in 2010, the group recorded over 700 seafarers who were victims of piracy in 243 incidents around the Horn of Africa, of which 202 were staged by Somali pirates. Globally, the piracy scourge off the coast of Somalia has affected 28 vessels and 654 hostages, according to the European Union Naval Force. Since Somalia descended into civil war in 1991, piracy off the Somali coast has been a threat to international shipping. The country is currently run by a coalition government. Capt. Chris Chambers, the chief of staff of the US-led Combined Maritime Forces, earlier urged the Philippine government to allow the deployment of Filipino seafarers only on ships with safety practices against piracy attacks in place. (See: Let Pinoy sailors board only pirate-proofed ships)—JV, GMANews.TV