Filipino seamen
Encyclopedia
Filipino seamen, also referred to as Filipino seafarers or Filipino sailors, are seamen, sailor
s, or seafarers from the Philippines
. Although, in general, the term "Filipino seamen" may include personnel from the Philippine Navy
or the Philippine Marine Corps
, it specifically refers to overseas Filipino
s who are "sea-based migrant Filipino workers".
in Marine Transportation and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering
from maritime schools. According to Miguel Angel Rocha, the vice-president for business development of CF Sharp Crew Management, Inc., one of the leading manning companies in the Philippines, there are around 80 to 100 maritime schools in the Philippines who offer these degrees. The courses had a three-year curriculum composed of classroom instruction and 12-months on-board training. After the course, the candidates will have to take the seaman’s state board exam.
In order to become a registered seaman in the Philippines, applicants should have a valid seaman's certificate from the Philippine Coast Guard
, a document that proves that the applicant passed the minimum standard requirements as a licensed mariner
for the seamanship
profession and trade. The required seaman training certification is known as the Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW), and is in accordance with the rules and regulatons of the International Maritime Organization
(IMO). Professional registration is done through the National Seamen Board
(NSB) and the Professional Regulation Commission
(PRC).
. The Philippines is one of the primary source of seamen in the global shipping and transport market. Filipino seamen are often recruited to man tankers and sea vessels from countries, including those from North America
, South America
, Europe
and Asia
, such as Japan
, the United States
, Panama
, Liberia
, Cyprus
, Bahamas, Jamaica
, Greece
, Malta
, Singapore
, Norway
and the Republic of Germany. Their employment contract can be from seven to eight months on average.
According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA), the Philippines is the world’s main supplier of seamen since 1987, making the Philipines the manning capital of the world. According to the Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines, around 229,000 Filipino seamen were on board merchant shipping vessels around the world at any given time, The figure showed that Filipino seamen comprised more than 25 percent of 1.5 million mariners worldwide, the "single biggest nationality bloc" in the shipping industry. In 2007, according to the POEA, there were 1,157 seamen (869 in 2006) from the Philippines who had been employed by registered or accredited manning agencies.
In 2007, the figure of Filipino seamen overseas was 226,900. Included in the total - according to job function - 31,818 were designated or ranked as seamen; 19,491 as oilers; 17,355 as ordinary seamen; 7,810 as mess men; 7,778 as chief cooks; 7,737 as bosuns; 7,056 as third engineers; 6,599 third mates; and 6,388 as waiters. Based on the type of ship, 47,782 Filipino seamen were on board passenger-type vessels; 42,356 were on bulk carriers; 31,983 were on container ships; 25,011 were on tankers; 14, 462 were on oil or product tankers; 10,754 were on general cargo ships; 7,502 were on chemical tankers; 6,610 were on tugboats; 5,742 were on pure care carriers; and 3,471 were on gas tankers.
(also known as LCC 19) – the command ship in the Pacific of the 7th fleet of the United States – around 120 (one-sixth) of the 650 seamen of the USS Blue Ridge was Filipino.
, Liberia
, Cyprus
, Malta
, and the Bahamas. A third of Panamian-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 12.8% of Liberian-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 11% of Cypriot-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 8.2% of Malta-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 7.9% of Bahamas-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen. Below is a table comparing figures of Filipino seamen on board FOC ships in 2002 and in 2007, in order to show the statistical trend:
for able-bodied (AB) seamen was around US$800 monthly, including fringe benefits, holiday pay, and overtime pay. Based on the bill by TUCP secretary general and former Philippine Senator Ernesto Herrera
, the lowest pay for a Filipino seaman aboard foreign ships was US$450 monthly, which was based on the minimum pay of US$276 set by the International Labor Organization as the monthly base pay for an able-bodied seaman who is the lowest ranking crewmember of a ship.
According to Manolo I. Abella's Export of Filipino Manpower, the statistics from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) of the Philippines indicated that there were 18,293 Filipino marine engineers and 15,965 deck officers registered with the PRC in 1976. The registry of the National Seamen's Board (NSB) had 82,373 registrants during the beginning of July 1977. From the 82,373, 20.9% (17,255) were registered as qualified ship officers, the reset were registered as qualified crewmen
.
”, namely the shipping
industry that carried “most of the world trade
in goods”. Mitropoulos further stated that the “international community
should pay tribute to the Filipino seafarers” and to the Philippines for their contributions to the shipping and international seaborne trade. On a similar note, United Nations
secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
hoped that many Filipino youth would join the seamen's profession.
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
s, or seafarers from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Although, in general, the term "Filipino seamen" may include personnel from the Philippine Navy
Philippine Navy
The Philippine Navy is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines"....
or the Philippine Marine Corps
Philippine Marine Corps
The Philippine Marine Corps is the marine corps of the Philippines, and is part of the Philippine Navy.- History :...
, it specifically refers to overseas Filipino
Overseas Filipino
An Overseas Filipino is a person of Philippine origin who lives outside of the Philippines. This term applies both to people of Filipino ancestry who are citizens or residents of a different country and to those Filipino citizens abroad on a more temporary status.Most overseas Filipinos migrate to...
s who are "sea-based migrant Filipino workers".
Training and qualification
Aspiring Filipino seamen are required to acquire degrees such as Bachelor of ScienceBachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Marine Transportation and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering
Marine propulsion
Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a ship or boat across water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting a motor or engine turning a propeller, or less frequently, in jet...
from maritime schools. According to Miguel Angel Rocha, the vice-president for business development of CF Sharp Crew Management, Inc., one of the leading manning companies in the Philippines, there are around 80 to 100 maritime schools in the Philippines who offer these degrees. The courses had a three-year curriculum composed of classroom instruction and 12-months on-board training. After the course, the candidates will have to take the seaman’s state board exam.
In order to become a registered seaman in the Philippines, applicants should have a valid seaman's certificate from the Philippine Coast Guard
Philippine Coast Guard
The Philippine Coast Guard is a maritime law enforcement agency operating under the Department of Transportation and Communications of the Philippines....
, a document that proves that the applicant passed the minimum standard requirements as a licensed mariner
Licensed mariner
A licensed mariner is a person who holds a license issued by one or more countries to hold senior positions aboard ships, boats, and similar vessels. The United States Coast Guard grants licenses to members of the United States Merchant Marine in five categories: deck officers, engineers, staff...
for the seamanship
Seamanship
Seamanship is the art of operating a ship or boat.It involves a knowledge of a variety of topics and development of specialised skills including: navigation and international maritime law; weather, meteorology and forecasting; watchstanding; ship-handling and small boat handling; operation of deck...
profession and trade. The required seaman training certification is known as the Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW), and is in accordance with the rules and regulatons of the International Maritime Organization
International Maritime Organization
The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , was established in Geneva in 1948, and came into force ten years later, meeting for the first time in 1959...
(IMO). Professional registration is done through the National Seamen Board
National Seamen Board
The National Seamen Board is the committee that was created by the Labor Code of the Philippines, through Article 20 of Presidential Decree No. 422...
(NSB) and the Professional Regulation Commission
Professional Regulation Commission
The Professional Regulation Commission , otherwise known as the PRC, is a three-man commission attached to the office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. Its mandate is to regulate and supervise the practice of the professionals who constitute the highly skilled manpower of the...
(PRC).
Statistics
There are around 280,000 students who graduate from maritime schools every year. There are around more than 200,000 to 250,000 Filipinos employed as seamen worldwide, more than any other nationality. According to Carmela Bignotia's Salary Guide for Filipino Seamen one out of every five seamen in the world is a FilipinoMen in the Philippines
Men in the Philippines is a term referring to the male members of Filipino society, or men who belong or come from the Philippines, a country in South East Asia or the Far East...
. The Philippines is one of the primary source of seamen in the global shipping and transport market. Filipino seamen are often recruited to man tankers and sea vessels from countries, including those from North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, such as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Bahamas, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and the Republic of Germany. Their employment contract can be from seven to eight months on average.
According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is an agency of the Government of the Philippines responsible for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program of the Philippines. It is the main government agency assigned to monitor and supervise recruitment agencies in the Philippines...
(POEA), the Philippines is the world’s main supplier of seamen since 1987, making the Philipines the manning capital of the world. According to the Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines, around 229,000 Filipino seamen were on board merchant shipping vessels around the world at any given time, The figure showed that Filipino seamen comprised more than 25 percent of 1.5 million mariners worldwide, the "single biggest nationality bloc" in the shipping industry. In 2007, according to the POEA, there were 1,157 seamen (869 in 2006) from the Philippines who had been employed by registered or accredited manning agencies.
In 2007, the figure of Filipino seamen overseas was 226,900. Included in the total - according to job function - 31,818 were designated or ranked as seamen; 19,491 as oilers; 17,355 as ordinary seamen; 7,810 as mess men; 7,778 as chief cooks; 7,737 as bosuns; 7,056 as third engineers; 6,599 third mates; and 6,388 as waiters. Based on the type of ship, 47,782 Filipino seamen were on board passenger-type vessels; 42,356 were on bulk carriers; 31,983 were on container ships; 25,011 were on tankers; 14, 462 were on oil or product tankers; 10,754 were on general cargo ships; 7,502 were on chemical tankers; 6,610 were on tugboats; 5,742 were on pure care carriers; and 3,471 were on gas tankers.
On board Japanese ships
In 2009, during the 28th joint meeting of the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee senior adviser of Komatsu Ltd. Toshitaka Hagiwara declared that 70% of Japanese maritime operations were manned by Filipinos seamen. According to president and chief executive officer of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation Doris Magsaysay-Ho, there were more than 28,000 Filipino crewmembers on board Japanese ships. Although classified as “non-domiciled special members”, Filipino seamen comprised 55% of the membership of the All Japan Seaman’s Union.On board United States ships
In August 2007, according to Captain Rudy Lupton, commanding officer of the USS Blue RidgeUSS Blue Ridge
USS Blue Ridge may refer to:, was originally constructed as the Great Lakes passenger steamer Virginia and was in service for less than a year during 1918, was an amphibious force flagship, and served from 1943 to 1947, is a command and control ship, currently serving as the Seventh Fleet command...
(also known as LCC 19) – the command ship in the Pacific of the 7th fleet of the United States – around 120 (one-sixth) of the 650 seamen of the USS Blue Ridge was Filipino.
On board FOC ships
A substantial number of Filipino seamen worldwide were often employed by FOC ships or "sweatships", meaning ships that were registered in a country (flag of registry of FOR) other than the country of ownership where registration fees were cheap, taxes are low or non-existent, and there were lax restrictions on the employment of cheap labor. According to the ITF, there were about 20,906 FOC ships in 2003, including ships from PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, and the Bahamas. A third of Panamian-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 12.8% of Liberian-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 11% of Cypriot-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 8.2% of Malta-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen, 7.9% of Bahamas-flagged ships were crewed by Filipino seamen. Below is a table comparing figures of Filipino seamen on board FOC ships in 2002 and in 2007, in order to show the statistical trend:
| Flag/Country of registration | Number of Filipino seamen on board in 2007 | Number of Filipino seamen on board in 2002 |
|---|---|---|
| Panama | 51,614 | 50,651 |
| Bahamas | 29,681 | 26,164 |
| Liberia | 21,966 | 18,653 |
| Singapore | 10,308 | 6,492 |
| Marshall Islands | 9,772 | no data available |
| United Kingdom | 8,172 | 6,382 |
| Malta | 7,513 | 8,614 |
| Cyprus | 7,052 | 9,324 |
| The Netherlands | 7,017 | no data available |
| Norway | 6,975 | 11,682 |
| Greece | no data available | 5,699 |
| Japan | no data available | 4,698 |
Maritime incidents and casualties
The shipping industry and seaman profession were not without incident or peril. There were maritime disasters that resulted in the loss of life of and injury to Filipino seamen. The following is a table showing some events in recent years that caused harm or death to seamen from the Philippines while on assignment abroad:| Date | Maritime case/incident | Location of case/incident | Name(s) of ship(s) | Type of ship | Flag of ship | Number of Filipino seamen affected | Description of casualties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 November 1994 | Ship caught fire | Off coast Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach.... |
Polydoros | Cargo ship | no information | 1 | Death |
| January 1995 | Collision of ships while approaching port | Constanta, Romania | Paris and You Xin | no information | Malta and Hong Kong | 23 | Declared missing |
| February 1995 | Ship leaked while transporting lumber | Sailing towards Korea Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... while in waters of Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
Sun River II | Cargo ship | Panama | 10 | Drowned in freezing waters |
| 21 August 1995 | Explosion on ship due to bursting oxygen and acetylene tanks | no information | African Evergreen | Cargo ship | Liberia | 7 | 3 deaths, 4 injuries |
| 20 June 1986 | Collision of ships | no information | Polydefkis and Anna Spiratou | no information | Cyprus and Greece | 24 | Declared missing |
| 16 January 1998 | Sinking of ship | Off the Newfoundland coast | The Flare | Bulk carrier | Cyprus | 16 | Death |
| 22 July 1998 | Sinking of ship | Off Kharg Island Kharg Island Kharg Island is a continental island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran. The island is located off the coast of Iran and northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. Administered by the adjacent coastal Bushehr Province, Kharg Island provides a sea port for the export of oil and extends Iranian... , Iran Iran Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia... |
Borvigilant | Tugboat | United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a... |
9 | 6 deaths, 3 survivors |
| December 1998 | Disappearance of ship | Taiwan Strait Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast... |
Pixy Mario | Cargo ship | Panama | 19 | Declared missing |
| 25 August 1999 | Ship explosion | Mid-Atlantic Mid-Atlantic Mid-Atlantic can refer to:*Mid-Atlantic English, a mix between British English and American English*Mid-Atlantic Region , one of the United States geographic divisions of the Little League World Series... |
Karteria | Bulk carrier | Malta | 3 | 2 deaths, 1 survivor with broken back and burns |
| 2 November 1999 | Capsizing of ship in calm seas | no information | Mighty Servant 2 | Heavy load carrier | Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint... |
2 | Death |
| 24 March 2009 | Sinking of ship | no information | Leader L | Bulk carrier | Panama | 13 | Death |
| 1 November 2009 | Sinking of ship | Off the coast of Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... |
Manila Spirit | Bulk carrier | Panama | 12 | Death |
| 8 November 2009 | Sinking of ship during a storm | Near Dansol, Pangasinan Pangasinan Pangasinan is a province of the Republic of the Philippines. The provincial capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the west central and peripheral area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf, with the total land area being 5,368.82 square kilometers . According to the latest census,... , Philippines |
Ho Feng 8 | Cargo ship | Panama | 3 | Survived after drifting at sea for 3 days |
| 25 July 2002 | Ship ran aground during a storm | Off the southwest coast of Japan | Co-op Venture | Bulk carrier | Panama | 3 | Drowned |
| 9 December 2002 | Explosion in ship due to high-pressure air leak | Off the coast of Newcastle, Australia | The Golden Bridge | Bulk carrier | Panama | 1 | Death after sustaining head injuries |
| 21 February 2003 | Capsizing of ship in rough seas | Off a remote island in Japan | Pendora | Cargo ship | Panama | 16 | 4 presumed dead, 12 survivors rescued |
Salary
The salary of Filipino seamen varies according to their position and is dependent on the employer or the hiring company. Their entitlements included benefits such as medical insurance, standby pay for senior officers, and good performance bonus for officers. In the 1980s, the minimum pay set by the International Transport Workers' FederationInternational Transport Workers' Federation
The International Transport Workers' Federation is a global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2009 the ITF had 654 member organizations in 148 countries, representing a combined membership of 4.5 million workers....
for able-bodied (AB) seamen was around US$800 monthly, including fringe benefits, holiday pay, and overtime pay. Based on the bill by TUCP secretary general and former Philippine Senator Ernesto Herrera
Ernesto Herrera
Ernesto Herrera was a Uruguayan playwright, short story writer and journalist.-Short stories:His writings include a collection of short stories 'Su majestad el hambre', 1910 ....
, the lowest pay for a Filipino seaman aboard foreign ships was US$450 monthly, which was based on the minimum pay of US$276 set by the International Labor Organization as the monthly base pay for an able-bodied seaman who is the lowest ranking crewmember of a ship.
According to Manolo I. Abella's Export of Filipino Manpower, the statistics from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) of the Philippines indicated that there were 18,293 Filipino marine engineers and 15,965 deck officers registered with the PRC in 1976. The registry of the National Seamen's Board (NSB) had 82,373 registrants during the beginning of July 1977. From the 82,373, 20.9% (17,255) were registered as qualified ship officers, the reset were registered as qualified crewmen
Ship's Company
The Ship's Company refers to all officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel aboard a naval vessel. The size of the ship's company is the number of people on board, excluding civilians and guests.-Command structure:...
.
Contribution to Philippine economy
Filipino seamen is a major segment of overseas Filipino workers who contributed to the Philippine economy. Filipino seamen had been a major source of US dollar remittances to the Philippines. In 2008, according to Doris Magsaysay-Ho, 28,000 Filipino seamen remitted US$3 billion to the Philippines from Japan alone. According to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the total of financial remittances sent to the Philippines by overseas Filipino seamen was US$2.501 billion during the first nine months of 2009 (US$2.393 billion in 2008).Contribution to world trade
In 2010, according to the Business Monitor, Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) described Filipino seamen as sailors who were “unsung heroes” of an “unsung industryShipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
”, namely the shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
industry that carried “most of the world trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
in goods”. Mitropoulos further stated that the “international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
should pay tribute to the Filipino seafarers” and to the Philippines for their contributions to the shipping and international seaborne trade. On a similar note, United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
hoped that many Filipino youth would join the seamen's profession.
See also
- Philippine NavyPhilippine NavyThe Philippine Navy is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines"....
- Philippine Marine CorpsPhilippine Marine CorpsThe Philippine Marine Corps is the marine corps of the Philippines, and is part of the Philippine Navy.- History :...
- Philippine Marine Corps Force Recon Battalion
- Board examinationBoard examinationIn India, board examinations refer to the pivotal examinations that occur at the end of the 9th to 10th grade education , or at the end of the 11th to 12th grade education...
- Board certificationBoard certificationBoard certification is the process by which a physician , dentist , or podiatrist in the United States demonstrates through either written, practical, and/or simulator based testing, a mastery of the basic knowledge and skills that define an area of medical specialization...
Further reading
- Andres, Tomas D.Tomas AndresTomas Quintin Donato Andres is a Filipino intercultural consultant, counselor, and pioneer of the Philippine-based management and training system known as Management by Filipino Values. He is also the initiator of the internationally-based management and training system known as Management by Humor...
"Understanding the Filipino seaman: His Values, attitudes and behavior" (Quick View) (eBook PDF version), Our Lady of Manaoag Publishers (1991), 28 pages, ISBN 978-9712600043
External links
- Associated Marine Officers' Union and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP)
- United Filipino Seafarers (UFS)
- Article 20. National Seamen Board, Labor Code Provisions on Overseas Employment, THE LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 442