First of all, I am thankful to be a member of the prestigious Maritime League and being able to attend its Maritime Forum where I have exchanged notes or opinions with some of its members, either through the Forum or private messages. I am very honored to have exchanged notes with no other than the Former Associate Chief Justice Tony…
The pandemic was really a disruptive game-changer. Even before the pandemic sent home most of our seafarers in 2020; their number has been dwindling the years prior. From close to 470,000 in 2019 it dropped 54% in 2020 to about 217,000. Deployment in 2018 dropped by more than 100,000. While the number of Philippine seafarers is dwindling, the number of…
“The more we work together, the merrier we’ll be.” Or so the popular lullaby goes. However this does not ring true for the Philippine domestic ships with an overwhelmingly large number of cadets onboard. The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) Report conducted last year states, “The team found cases in which 11, 16 or even 37 deck cadets were onboard…
The era of digitalization has made room for Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (AUV) to take place and become a powerful tool for ports and the overall shipping industry, playing a major role in a variety of ‘shipping duties’, such as surveillance, safety, accident and pollution reporting, representing the importance of technology in shipping and making us wonder whether drones will be…
Finally, after more than 4 decades, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has a home to call its own. The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has inaugurated its newly constructed central office building on Bonifacio Drive corner 20th Street at Port Area, Manila. The 12,000-square meter 12-storey building was constructed with a cost of PHP382 million through the assistance of the Department…
Martek Marine (Martek) has been awarded a ground breaking 2-year Remotely Piloted Aircraft Services (RPAS) contract from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). The services offered will fulfil part of the world’s largest ever maritime drone contract. Part of a five-year EMSA strategy of improving coast guard monitoring and surveillance of maritime activity valued at EUR 67 million, the service…