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THE
Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) said it will double
the required number of cadets onboard a domestic vessel
in a move to meet the growing shortage of marine and
deck officers in both the domestic and international
shipping industry.
Marina
Administrator Vicente Suazo Jr. said they are increasing
the required number of required cadets taking their
one-year shipboard training from the current four to
eight onboard a ship of at least 500 gross tons.
Under
the new setup, there should be four slots available each
for deck and engine cadets from accredited maritime
institutions, and the domestic vessels should make sure
the cadet will be trained according to the position.
Suazo
said the move will be included in the revision of
Memorandum Circular 3. On “Apprenticeship Training of
Graduates of Philippine Nautical Schools and Marine
Engineering Institutions.”
A
student of BS Maritime Transportation or BS Marine
Engineering must complete three years of academic
education and 12 months of shipboard training before he
can apply for a license from the Professional Regulation
Commission.
Many can
complete the academic years inside the school, but due
to the limited slots given by the vessels, both domestic
and oceangoing, for training of cadets, many are not
able to finish the course.
Suazo
said some of the domestic ship owners have already
thrown their support behind the institutionalization of
the program onboard local vessels.
Marina
officials earlier explained that the move is not meant
to solve the problem of crew and officer shortage in the
country.
Domestic
vessel operators are having a hard time getting
officers, such as captains and engineers, since most are
working for foreign vessels that pay much higher fees in
foreign currency.
As a
result, the industry will have to wait for the Filipino
officers to retire before they can get them to either
man the vessels or train the other crews. Some operators
are converting their vessels in order to hire the
lower-rung crew members.
The
Philippines is one of the major suppliers of seafarers
worldwide. Filipinos account for about 30 percent of the
maritime population, but most are not officers. |
