BREATHING SPACE:
IMO-STCW Deadline Extended to
July 1
5-Month extension
BIG RELIEF
It was expected alright, or so some of the laggards and
do-no-gooders said it would be. The meltdown suddenly froze and the countdown
stopped – like a stay on execution. However, not a few reactions – good
and bad – created quite a ripple that was felt all over the shipping world.
Some said it was a damning indictment on the status of
sea safety. Others countered that it was a necessary and pragmatic extension.
In the Philippines, the decision of the International
Maritime Organization to extend the February 1 deadline for the full implementation
of the Standard of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping, as amended
in 1995, to July 1 this year – for a full five-month breather – was welcomed
with a big sigh of relief.
Obviously, tens of thousands of Filipino seafarers would
have failed to board their ship had there been no extension. But they cannot
be totally blamed for the lack of documents to certify their full compliance
to STCW ’95.
FULL STORY
>>
RP maintains seat in IMO council
THE Philippine’s interest in maritime transport or navigation
is now finally secured with the country’s recent election in the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) Council Category C.
The Philippines, placing sixth in the recent IMO General
Assembly election, has been consistently gaining one of the council’s seats
in Category C since 1997.
The IMO is an attached agency of the United Nations that
is tasked with setting international maritime and safety standards. Based
in London, the IMO has 160 member-countries, two associate members and
a couple of dozen international organizations with relations to the maritime
industry as observers. The IMO meets twice a year, with the council meeting
in June and the general assembly convening in November.
FULL STORY
>>
Gov’t slams report calling RP
as the ‘Fake Certificate Capital of the World’
THE Philippine government slammed a study conducted by
the Cardiff University in the UK citing the country as fake certificate
capital of the world.
Reacting to a study conducted by Bernardo Obando-Rojas,
a research fellow from the International Research Center, University of
Cardiff, about the “prevalence of fraud” in the documentation of seafarers,
Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas questioned how “he reached such figures.”
“I really don’t know how this researcher arrived at his
figures since the cases for the Philippines were “birth certificates, marriage
contracts and other personal records,” Sto. Tomas noted.
The labor secretary told Tinig ng Marino
that the number of certificates of competency (detected as fraudulent)
is nil, and the certificates (reported as fake) are not issued by or emanate
from the maritime administration of the Philippines.
FULL STORY
>>
DATELINE ROTTERDAM:
UFS eases pain of Pinoy seafarer
who suffered a stroke in a foreign port
IN MOST places in the world, United Filipino Seafarers
make its presence felt, especially when it comes to the welfare of seafarers.
To the sick, UFS always has a ready hand and provides moral support like
a family. In cases of employment problems, UFS is fast to respond (even
if UFS president Engr. Nelson Ramirez has to take the last plane out of
Manila to be where the problem is). In sports, it promotes camaraderie
and unity among Pinoy seafarers.
In this particular incident, a Pinoy seafarer, Rolly Manuel,
suffered a brain stroke while his ship, M/T NCC Narjan, was docked in Rotterdam.
He was rushed to the nearest hospital and before he knew it, UFS Rotterdam
chair Bob Ramirez and his wife, Elly, were already at his hospital bedside,
giving him all the encouragement and moral support, just like family.
FULL STORY
>> |
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BEWARE!
"Wanted
Oil Rig Workers
SALARY:
$430/DAY"
|
One-stop shops for documentation
-NEWS
Training Pinoy sailors
- FEATURES
God’s grace
- EDITORIAL
Marino: History of Filipino Seamen
(26th in a series of essays)
-HISTORY
FEMFI sponsors two-day maritime
shooting event
- SPORTS
Contribute your ideas online!
Express your opinion!
You can now
any discussion on seafarer's issues anytime or anywhere you are with
Usapang Marino
(Seafarer's Forum)
at URL: http://www.ufs.ph/discus
Want to play
basketball while in Rotterdam?
Filipino Seafarers who want
to play basketball on Sundays in Rotterdam, please contact Doming Malaloan
at Tel. No.: 010-463635 or International Seamen's Centre, Heijplaat, Rotterdam,
Tel. No.: 4290702 |
THE
SEAMAN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE OF NY & NJ
International Seafarers’
Center
118 Export Street, Port
Newark,
New Jersey 07114
TELEPHONE (973) 589-5828
FAX (973) 8565
WE WELCOME YOU!
– MON - FRI 8:30 AM to10
PM
– SATURDAY 4 to10 PM
– SUNDAY 4 to 10 PM
Free Transportation to the
center / Worship service, prayer meetings, and counseling is provided aboard
ship by request, and the Mariner’s Chapel / Cross & Anchor calling
cards – low rates for domestic and international calls ($10 and $20 cards
available) / Books, Bibles, magazines, religious materials, trucker resources,
and used clothing / Postal services (U.S. mail, priority / express mail,
Fedex) available / Money orders and money gram services to all countries
/ Cash remittance to the Philippines / Internet access, email services,
faxes / Sports & Entertainment–large screen TV, ping pong, darts, billiards,
soccer, basketball, and video games / Fitness Center / Shower–no charge
for seafarers / Gift Shop–candy, greeting cards, soda, souvenirs, health
and beauty products, clothing / New Jersey Gardens–the largest outlet mall
in NJ just 15 minutes away / Bus service is available / Balikbayan box
shopping, UPS / Restaurant / Bar–Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Serving the ports of Newark,
Elizabeth, Jersey City, Bayonne, Port Reading, Kearny, Linden, Carteret,
Perth Amboy, Staten Island, and Brooklyn |
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