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| Vice-President Jejomar Binay |
The European Chamber of Commerce of
the Philippines (ECCP) has assured Vice President Jejomar Binay that the
European Union has no plan to blacklist Filipino seafarers.
Binay, presidential adviser on
overseas Filipino workers’ concerns, has said the assurance came from ECCP vice
president for external affairs Henry Schumacher.
Schumacher told Binay that Filipino
seafarers will continue working in EU-flagged vessels.
“I am relieved to hear such
reassurance that 80,000 of our seafarers in Europe are safe from the
blacklist,” Binay said.
He said he was alarmed by news
reports that the EU is poised to ban Filipino seafarers because of the
Philippines’ failure to comply with the 1978 International Convention on the
Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for Seafarers.
The STCW Convention sets
qualification standards for officers and personnel on seagoing merchant ships.
The Philippines failed to meet EU
standards on maritime education, training and competency certificates, according
to the results of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) audit conducted in
April.
Last month, Binay visited Hamburg,
Germany upon invitation of Lloyd Shipping.
He assured EU shipowners employing
Filipino seafarers of the Philippine government’s commitment to fully adhere to
the STCW requirements.
EMSA is scheduled to conduct a
follow-up inspection of Philippine maritime schools in October and no
recommendation or decision will be made until the result of the audit is known.
1 comment:
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