Phl still fails to address deficiencies in maritime safety

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine compliance with European and international maritime safety standards has been rated “negative” by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

EMSA has submitted the result of its audit to the European Commission.

The submission of the report prompted Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya to meet with European Union Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas in Brussels last Monday in an effort to prevent possible EC sanctions, including a ban on Filipino officers on European vessels. The audit began in October last year.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday met with European ambassadors in Manila to ask their support for the Philippines’ bid to be given more time to address safety deficiencies identified by the EMSA.

“The European Commission may likely give a negative recommendation which it will endorse to the technical committee on safe seas. This committee will decide on April 23,” an EU diplomat told The STAR.

A copy of the 99-page technical report obtained by The STAR indicated viable – but largely unimplemented – monitoring plans.

“Marina and CHED did not demonstrate that the monitoring activities had been fully implemented and conducted in a uniform way,” the report said, referring to the Maritime Industry Authority and the Commission on Higher Education.

EMSA also cited what it called lack of uniformity in the grading of students in maritime schools by CHED.

Moreover, Marina and CHED have not yet fully ensured the training and independence of the evaluators needed to implement the monitoring plans.

In a 2006 inspection, CHED was found to be not monitoring systematically maritime schools’ compliance with relevant regulations.

“In the follow-up inspection of 2010, CHED demonstrated that it had increased its monitoring activities and boosted the number of ‘maritime inspectors’ with advisors from the private sector, although the issue of conflicts of interest had not been addressed,” EMSA said.

In a follow-up inspection in 2012, EMSA said CHED advisors did not apply defined criteria in verifying the implementation of the programs.

“The monitoring process too appeared to be based solely on a checklist of equipment and materials and not on the training delivered to the students. Guidance appeared to be nonexistent, particularly in terms of course delivery, assessment and the use of stimulators,” the EMSA report said.

“Therefore, the achievement of the objectives, having regard to the established policies, systems, controls and internal quality assurance, was not ensured,” it said.

Marina, for its part, failed to demonstrate that the national standard for management level courses was fully consistent with the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW).

“It is not fully structured as necessary to ensure that the prescribed standard of competence will be achieved,” the report said.

Other EMSA findings were: Not all agencies involved in training, education and certification of seafarers are aligned with the National Quality Standards System (NQSS); there is a conflict of interest with respect to assessors and evaluators with the maritime schools; and, unworkable plan for monitoring of maritime schools.