No seaman’s book shortage
Filipino seafarers are assured that SRB and SID are available
Fake news.
That’s how a Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) official called the reported shortage in Seafarer’s Record Book (SRB) or seaman’s book.
“We don’t have a shortage. That’s fake news,” Luisito de los Santos, Marina officer-in-charge for Management Information Service, said Wednesday.
De los Santos was reacting to an earlier claim by an industry stakeholder that there is scarcity in Seaman’s Book, a record of a seafarer’s service and certification of the holder’s competency.
Marina is the sole agency that issues SRB to seafarers after passing the Basic Safety Training course.
As to the issuance of Seafarer’s Identification Document (SID), the Marina official admitted a slight delay in releasing it due to the late delivery of the Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) microchips embedded in the smart card but assured that distribution has normalized.
De los Santos said 26,000 EMV chips were delivered in June and another 26,000 were delivered this month.
The chips are imported from France and Russia, and the fighting in Ukraine apparently disrupted the EMV delivery.
Marina has enough SID for seafarers that are set to leave in the coming weeks and months.
The SID allows its holder visa-free travel under Convention 185 of the International Labor Organization.
De los Santos said Marina has enough SID for seafarers that are set to leave in the coming weeks and months. “We are only doing staggered release of SID for those who want to secure it in advance or are not yet set to get on board,” he said.
Manning agencies can write Marina a request for expedited release of SID.
The official clarified that those who have unexpired Seafarer’s Identification and Record Book, the predecessor of the SRB and SID, do not need to secure the latter.
In 2016, Marina issued Circular 2016-05 amending Circular 2009-10 that expands the validity of SRB to 10 years.
Later, Marina also launched its SRB online application.