MARINA welcomes EC decision on continued recognition of Philippine certificates
The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) welcomed the decision of the European Commission to continue the recognition of Philippine-issued STCW Certificates, thus ensuring the employment of almost 50,000 Filipino marine officers onboard European-flagged vessels.
After evaluation of the country’s corrective actions to address the findings raised by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in its 2020 inspection, the EC concluded that the measures taken demonstrate concrete progress and improvement as regards the compliance with the requirements of the STCW Convention.
In a statement, MARINA Administrator Hernani Fabia said that the “EC’s decision is a nod to the serious efforts taken by the country since the first EMSA inspection back in 2006. I thank President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and DOTR Secretary Jaime Bautista for their leadership and support in all the actions of MARINA to continually improve its system and to uphold the interest of our seafarers.''
During the sidelines of the HTW9 Meeting in London last February, Fabia met with representatives from the EC and relayed the strong support and commitment of Marcos to fully comply with the requirements of the STCW Convention.
He stressed that the country will sustain the implementation of all corrective actions through continued coordination among MARINA, CHED, DOH, PCG and other government agencies.
Fabia also expressed appreciation to the European Union and all countries who continue to employ Filipino seafarers. He said that their trust and confidence in Filipino seafarers is something that the country values and as such, all efforts will be made to ensure that we continue to provide them with globally competitive and highly-skilled maritime workforce.
The EMSA, on behalf of the EC, carried out a total of 13 inspections of the maritime education, training and certification system of the Philippines from 2006 to 2020. As provided for by the STCW Convention, the EC may conduct an evaluation of the STCW compliance of non-EU member countries prior to recognizing the certificate of their seafarers and allow them to work onboard EU-flagged vessels. MARINA
