Gov't to craft action plan to secure seafarers

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government, along with non-government organizations, will come up with action plan to prevent or minimize future accidents involving Filipino seafarers, a senior government official said today.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said she directed Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Administrator Hans Cacdac to convene a meeting of the Overseas Seafarers Committee of the Maritime Industry Tripartite Council to discuss the recent incident in Vietnam where cargo vessel MV Bulk Jupiter manned by all Filipinos sank.

One of the crew members was rescued, two, including the captain, died while 16 others were still missing.

"The MITC should also come up with a ready mechanism on effective coordination with manning agents and shipowners," Baldoz said.

She said that the DOLE's paramount concern is to ensure the welfare of Filipino seafarers and their families, especially when maritime accidents happen.

Baldoz said that with 300,000 Filipino seafarers deployed annually there is always the likelihood that a Filipino seafarer may be onboard when a ship is reported to be involved in an accident anywhere in the world.