The government is working to save the jobs of 49,000 Filipino seafarers aboard European ships and the $7 billion they send home each year, Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista stated Saturday, February 4. In a couple of months – by April or May 2023, the European Commission (EC) will decide whether or not to recognize Philippine-issued Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW). The issue has been dragging on for the past 16 years now because the Philippines “has failed to fully address the findings and observations of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA),” he explained. “We may even have to move heaven and earth, if need be, to ensure these European standards are satisfactorily met,” according to the DOTr Secretary. Already, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. created an inter-agency committee to take up the EC’s impending action through the EMSA.

LINK:  https://seafarertimes.com/2020-21/node/8123