Ghana’s Maritime Labour Force: A potential catalyst for the country’s socio-economic development ‘Exploring the multi-billion dollar seafarer export potential for Ghana’s socio-economic development’

GHANA’S mar­itime labour force is a critical component of her maritime sector, and its development and proper exploita­tion should be considered essential to the country’s socio-economic development. However, in order to effectively develop and exploit this potential, it is necessary for the government to put in place various policies that will enable the maritime workforce to effectively participate in the Global Maritime Labour Supply Chain.

The Philippines has been touted as a global model for labour export which is worth emulating, especial­ly for seafarer employment. This article and subsequent ones will examine the various aspects of the Philippine model that could serve as pointers in a similar model for Ghana to use in managing and developing a future-ready maritime human capital.

The Philippines Seafarer Labour Export Model: A Closer Look

The Philippines is known for its contribution to the global seafaring industry. In fact, it is considered one of the largest sources of sea­farers in the world. This is due to the country’s seafarer labour export model, which has been in place for several decades now.

The seafarer labour export model is a system that allows Filipino seafarers to work on foreign-flagged vessels. Established by the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s as a response to the high unemployment rate and challenges the country faced in its balance of payments, the system enabled the country to tap into the growing demand for seafarers in the global shipping industry.

Under this model, Filipino seafarers are recruited by manning agencies and deployed to foreign vessels. These manning agencies act as intermediaries between the seafarers and the ship owners. They provide the necessary train­ing and certification for seafarers and handle all the paperwork and logistics involved in their deploy­ment.

The seafarer labour export model has had a significant impact on the Philippine economy. It is one of the country’s top sources of foreign exchange earnings, generating billions of dollars in remittances each year. In fact, the remittances from Filipino seafarers account for around 20 per cent of the country’s total remittances. Ac­cording to data from the Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Filipino seafar­ers’contributions have remained above the $6 billion mark annually since 2017.

Aside from the economic ben­efits, the seafarer labour export model has also provided employ­ment opportunities for millions of Filipinos. It has helped reduce the country’s unemployment rate and has provided a way for many families to escape poverty.

The Philippines Seafarer Labour Export Model is anchored on four major pillars which could be described as:

Developing strategies and pro­grammes that guarantee Filipino seafarers have access to full and quality employment opportunities internationally by ensuring they possess the required level of profi­ciency, education, and certification as required by the 1978 STCW Convention and other applica­ble conventions, laws, rules, and regulations.

Actively promoting the estab­lishment of a maritime employ­ment-friendly environment and acknowledging the role the private sector plays in the recruiting and placement of seafarers that fur­thers the goals of national develop­ment and also working in trust and cooperation with legally established non-governmental groups.

Creating and putting into action, in collaboration with the rele­vant organisations, a system for promoting and monitoring the employment of Filipino seafar­ers, as well as for protecting and advancing their welfare, in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect with other governmental organisa­tions, licensed manning agencies, non-governmental organisations, unions, seafarers’ associations, stakeholders, and other legally recognised similar entities.

Safeguarding any Filipino sea­farer who wants to work abroad by securing the finest employment terms and circumstances by allow­ing the deployment of Filipino seafarers to nations with labour and social regulations in place or those that have ratified internation­al agreements guarding the rights of seafarers

Governance of the Model

Regulation of the Philippine maritime manpower sector is carried out by the Philippines Maritime Industry Authority (MA­RINA) in conjunction with other government agencies performing different maritime functions, all aimed at ensuring the Philippines maintain its position as the primary global source for competent seafar­ers. MARINA is also the body that carries out Philippines flag state responsibilities. The other agencies are:

• The Philippine Over­seas Employment Administration (POEA) – is mandated and re­sponsible for the formulation and implementation of policies and programs for overseas employ­ment of Filipino seafarers. POEA particularly oversees the enforce­ment of the Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Seafarers which could probably be considered as the backbone of the Philippines Seafarer Labor Export Model.

• The Maritime Training Council (MTC) is the body that formulates training standards, regulates supervises and inspects maritime training centres that offer IMO courses required under the STCW Convention. It is also responsible for the implementation of the 1978 STCW Convention, as amended.

• The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), for­mulates and implements academic policies and standards for maritime education specifically to meet the requirements of the 1978 STCW Convention, as amended, while the Professional Regulation Com­mission (PRC) administers and conducts licensure examination for deck and engine officers. It also undertakes the issuance of STCW Certificates for deck and engine officers.

• The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is responsible for the establishment of national occupa­tional skills standards and the im­plementation and accreditation of programmes under which private industry groups and trade associ­ations are accredited to conduct competency assessments and issue Certificates of Competency to rat­ings forming part of navigational and engineering watches.

Fine-tuning Manning Agency Licensing and Recruitment Policies to Mitigate Against Potential Un­ethical Practices.

As the backbone of the labour model, the Philippines Govern­ment has over the years fine-tuned the licensing and accreditation of manning and crewing agents to ensure that they perform efficient­ly and effectively and will not be prone to unethical practices that are prevalent in the industry.

A manning agent according to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is an entity that advertises a vacancy, gathers appli­cations, and proposes seafarers to principals and clients. A manning agent also in addition arranges medical and visa requirements for outgoing seafarers, arranges most local procedures and requirements for crew joining; and in general is understood as providing ‘recruit­ment and placement services’ as referred to in the MLC, 2006.

A crew manager on the other hand is an entity that employs seafarers on behalf of a ship manager or ship owner or on its own behalf. It is usually an entity that has signed a crew management agreement with a ship owner. The responsibilities of a crew manager are many and include interviewing sea farers to ensure all licenses and certificates are authenticated and that medicals and other local requirements are satisfied. Crew managers may sometimes also act as the maritime employer having all the judicial responsibilities for the crew.

Although these entities perform some very critical functions in sea­farer recruitment and employment it has also been recognized they are also prone to illegal practices such as ‘recruitment fraud and job scams. The Philippine labor code addresses these illegal practices by prescribing measures that enable the Government to maintain effective oversight of entities in­volved in seafarer recruitment and employment.

To guard against acts such as cronyism and partiality, employees working for government agencies involved in the administration and deployment of migrant workers and their fourth-degree civil rela­tives, are disqualified from partic­ipating or engaging in the recruit­ment and placement of seafarers for overseas employment.

In addition, manning agents assume joint and several liabilities with ship owners or principals who are duly accredited for all claims and liabilities which may arise in connection with the implementa­tion of the contract, including but not limited to unpaid wages, death and disability compensation, and repatriation.

To ensure that agents are financially sound to meet such obligation a sole proprietor agency or a partnership is required to have a minimum capitalization of Five Million Pesos and in the case of a corporationa minimum paid-up capital of Five Million Pesos, about ($90,000).

Furthermore manning agents, in order to obtain a manning license must also enter into an escrow agreement with a Central Bank of Philippines authorised bank, with a deposit in the amount of One Million Pesos (PhP1,000,000.00).

The escrow deposit is required to cover legitimate claims resulting from breaches of employment contracts and terms of the license’s issuance and usage, including any fines levied by the Administration. The escrow is also to ensure adher­ence to the Department of Labor and Employment’s pertinent direc­tives, rules, and regulations, as well as the specified hiring practices and terms and circumstances.

This first part of the article has looked at the Philippines Seafarer Labour Export Model, how it is structured, and how it operates. The second part will examine the state of the global maritime work­force and how Ghana can build and maintain a pool of qualified maritime workers who are well-trained, competent, and competi­tive on the international stage and in line with accepted best practices and standards to adequately meet present and future demand for the nation and the world.

BY CAPT WILLIAM AMANHYIA,

The Writer is a Lecturer,

Regional Maritime University