Phl seafaring makes IMO's 'white list'

MANILA, Philippines - Good news to Filipino seafarers aspiring to work in foreign vessels.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has affirmed the Philippines’ compliance with global seafaring standards for the third time this decade through its “white list,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said yesterday.

Baldoz said this reflects the country’s “consistent and sustained standing in giving ‘full and complete’ effect” to the IMO’s revised Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping Convention.

“The white list affirms the capacities and diligence of the Philippines in ensuring the competencies of Filipino seafarers,” she said.

Being included in the white list increases the chances of Filipino mariners of being hired in foreign vessels because the list as the “reference bible” in seafaring excellence.

The London-based IMO is a United Nations agency tasked to focus on the safety and security of shipping and prevention of marine pollution by ships.

Baldoz said with this development, the country would have to prove once again that Filipinos seafarers are the best in the world.

“Our capacity for excellence will be tested to the hilt, and by demand and necessity, we must again do our utmost in order to ensure that the quest for quality of Filipino maritime training institutions and of the overseas Filipino seafarers do not taper, but continue to be sustained and maintained at global benchmarks and cutting-edge levels,” she said.