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SCTW Recognition of the Philippines

An extremely urgent situation arises from the ongoing issue of the EU threatening to withdraw STCW recognition of the Philippines which would mean that the some 80,000 Filipino seamen would not be able to work on board EU Member States' vessels. In August 2011 the Philippines submitted a document outlining the measures taken to improve performance. Reportedly, DG MOVE and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) analysed these measures and EMSA has carried out a number of inspections locally, the latest in March 2013, and continues to find serious flaws.

The Philippines had embarked on changes, in order to avoid the EU withdrawal of its recognition, and the latest inspection concentrated on the Filipino administration and verified on the spot the progress of the implementation of the changes announced by the country. EMSA concluded that, despite some progress, there are still a number of important shortcomings with the Filipino administration that should preferably be solved as soon as possible. On 1 May 2012, at IMO STW 43, the Philippines officially announced the enactment of a Philippine law creating a single Central Maritime Administration (which became effective as from 1 June 2012). The country also underlined its efforts to apply the 2010 Manila Amendments, notably the strict monitoring of the education, training and certification of maritime professionals and the registration and control of both the Philippine domestic and international fleet.

A further round of EMSA inspections is planned for October this year and these inspections will focus on the Filipino administration as well as on the Filipino schools.

Despite some progress, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but a number of measures will require time, and it remains to be seen whether sufficient progress will have been made by the Philippines by the time of the next EMSA inspection in October 2013. Such progress will be needed to persuade EMSA and the European Commission not to withdraw STCW recognition of the Philippines.