MARINA ready for EC, EMSA audit

MANILA, Philippines - The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) is meeting inspectors of the European Commission and its European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) this week as it decides on whether to push through with a threat to prohibit Filipino seafarers from manning European Union-registered vessels.

Lawyer Nicasio Aranas Conti, MARINA officer-in-charge administrator, said that considerably boosting the agency’s readiness for the audit was the forging of several memorandum of agreements (MOA) recently with various government agencies involved in maritime education and training.

Under the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRRs) of Executive Order (EO) 75, MARINA must enter into agreements with government agencies involved in the implementation of the 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for Seafarers.

MARINA has signed MOAs with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), National Telecommunications Communication (NTC), and the Department of Health (DOH).  

Under the MOAs, Conti said these agencies now fully recognized the oversight functions of MARINA over them on STCW matters.

 â€œThese partnerships with key government agencies display the commitment of the Philippine government to ensure the effective implementation of EO 75 and maintain the status of the country as one of the leading providers of global maritime professionals,” Conti said.  

The MOAs contain arrangements with the agencies on how the MARINA can exercise its oversight function without necessarily diminishing the powers granted to the agencies by virtue of their enabling laws.

Earlier, the EC has threatened to withdraw recognition of the documents issued by the Philippine government to Filipino seafarers after maritime education and training institutions (METIs) dealing with seafarers failed to comply with some of the requirements of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

EMSA has been tasked to inspect countries supplying EU member states with seafarers, and recommend measures to EC on these seafarers-supplying countries. After inspecting the Philippines in 2006, 2010, and, in March 2012, EMSA found several deficiencies in the Philippines’ compliance with STCW Convention.

The EMSA audit is ongoing, from April 15 to April 19.

Topping these shortcomings was the fragmented implementation of the convention among several agencies namely the Maritime Training Council (MTC), PRC, DOH, TESDA, CHED and even the NTC.

The issuance of EO 75 had convinced the EC-EMSA to reconsider an earlier move to withdraw recognition of Philippine-issued seamen’s certificates to seafarers, and schedule an audit on the implementation of the EO.

With the MOAs, MARINA is now taking the lead in maintaining a National Quality Standards System (NQSS) which contains a mechanism for the periodic audit of maritime schools and training centers.

 In correcting the fragmented implementation of STCW, MARINA in effect has hurdled one of the biggest obstacles cited by EMSA.