The hand-wringing and head-shaking can stop. There will be no EU ban on Filipino seafarers. Coming from us, the statement may sound surprising. Marine Café Blog, after all, was the first to bring the EU threat to the public eye with our 26th May 2011 post, ‘Fire alarm at the seafarer factory‘. Ever since, we’ve been calling for forthright action to fix the problem – to the dismay of those who childishly think that criticising one’s own is being unpatriotic.

Yes, we’ve been critical of the seafarer factory, sometimes a bit harshly. On the other hand, we have not lost our ability to read between the lines and see beyond the immediate events. Call it our maritime Third Eye or whatever, but here’s why we do not foresee the European Commission withdrawing recognition of Philippine seafarer certificates:

1. The remaining deficiencies are procedural matters involving, not so much the quality of Philippine maritime education and training (MET), as the system of monitoring it. The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) may complain, for instance, about state inspectors having a conflict of interest. But it’s all about the system, all about paper work. Moreover, the last kinks have been ironed out. Credit for this goes to Nicasio Conti, who has just been rewarded for his hard work by being replaced as head of the Maritime Industry Authority.

2. There’s plenty of sympathy for the Philippines within EMSA and the European Commission itself. Why would the EMSA team conduct an initial audit in April, six months before the final inspection in October 2013? It’s to give the Filipinos reasonable time to plug the loopholes. EMSA’s lead inspector was rather upfront with Philippine officials in the debriefing he gave right after the one-day audit in April. This was to be expected. EMSA not only needs to do its job but to be perceived as doing so. It’s professionalism tempered with compassion.

3. The EU has a selfish interest in keeping Filipino seafarers on EU-flagged vessels. The EU shipowners themselves say they would have to close shop if an EU ban on Philippine crews were to be enforced. This doesn’t mean that the Filipinos are indispensable, only that the Europeans have no alternative. The situation would surely be different if they could turn elsewhere for their ship manning requirements.

All this is no prescription for the Filipinos to lay back and not attend to what needs to be done. Indeed, it’s time for the local MET players to look beyond the EMSA audit and pursue the ideal of excellence no matter what outsiders may say. Only then can the seafarer factory triumph and not simply endure. ~Barista Uno