Dutch ship owners want all-Filipino crew, from officer to ratings (non-officer), in their vessels, the Netherlands Ambassador to the country Robert Brinks said.
“Dutch employers want Filipino seafarers to occupy all positions in the ships because they are good and they can communicate well,” Brinks said at Monday night’s reception for the 11th meeting of the Philippines-Netherlands Joint Committee on Maritime Affairs.
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Having people of different nationalities on ships can also be a source of misunderstanding and tension.
Some 10,000 Filipinos are hired in Dutch-flagged ships every year, making the Philippines Holland’s largest source of seafarers.
Tjitso Westra of the Dutch ship owners association affirmed Brinks’s assertion and vouched for Filipino seafarers’ industry and loyalty.
Filipino seafarers “can perform a lot of functions well and they are more reliable than other officers (of different nationalities). If you treat them well, they won’t leave you for other principal even for a $100 or 200 more,” Westra said.
Brinks also said the global economic crisis has not affected the hiring of Filipino seafarers for Dutch ships.
The Dutch ambassador said his country’s shipping industry has learned from a mistake it made around 20 years ago when it fired people due to an economic slump. When the situation improved, the shipping industry suffered a lack of seafarers.
“I don’t think we will slow down on hiring Filipino seafarers because Asia’s (economy) is booming, there will always be a requirement for them,” he said.
Buoyed by an increase in Dutch ships, the Netherlands in 1996 came up with legislation that identified the best ways to recruit qualified foreign officers in Dutch-flagged ships. In 2001, the Philippines and the Netherlands then started the Joint Committee Meeting which started helping the Philippines in training its seafarers so that they can be hired by the Dutch principals.
“You have many seafarers but there are not enough jobs for them here. Giving them the right training and hiring them on board Dutch ships will provide them long-term jobs for many years to come,” Westra said.
Filipinos comprise about a quarter of all the seafarers in the world. At any given time, some 250,000 Filipino seafarers are at sea. They are preferred by many ship owners, including Japanese and Norwegians.
Source: Inquirer.net
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