Filipino seafarers may soon lose their competitiveness due to the higher cost of deployment, according to TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines) Partylist Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza.
In a privilege speech last week, Mendoza said as thousands of seafarers are displaced because of the pandemic, reports show that there is now a $700 additional cost for deployment of Filipino seafarers.
“Saving the Philippine seafaring industry is now paramount. They contribute billions to the economy, contribute to the building of the middle class, and in the next year and a half we expect that there will be very few good jobs worldwide,” Mendoza said.
Due to the pandemic, Mendoza said some of the seafarers were not able to fulfill contracts because they could not be deployed to their port of embarkation, and some were left to extend their contracts indefinitely onboard their ships because no one was coming to take over their place.
Mendoza added that for two and a half months, Filipino seafarers were left stranded in foreign ports with the costs for their board and lodging while under quarantine were being charged to the local manning agencies and shipping agencies.
He urged government to take on the costs of the quarantine of seafarers to alleviate the burden.
Mendoza fears Filipinos could lose their contracts, even if they are the preferred workers in the industry.
“Our workers now have to compete with countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, China, and those in Eastern Europe, and they are at an advantage because their governments are footing the bill for board and lodging. They do not experience the same trouble of being stranded for two and a half months in their point of origin, and their governments are subsidizing the seafaring industries for it to survive,” Mendoza said.
He said international shipping companies are now considering hiring seafarers of other nationalities because it will now cost more to deploy a Filipino seafarer.