Filipino seamen

[1] In order to become a registered seaman in the Philippines, an applicant should have a valid Seafarer's Identification and Record Book (SIRB) from the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), a document that proves that the applicant passed the minimum standard requirements as a licensed mariner for the seamanship profession and trade.

Filipino seamen are often recruited to man tankers and sea vessels from countries, including those from North America, South America, Europe and Asia,[1] such as Denmark, Japan, the United States, Panama, Liberia, Cyprus, Bahamas, Jamaica, Greece, Malta, Singapore, Norway and Germany.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines, around 229,000 Filipino seamen were on board merchant shipping vessels around the world at any given time,[1] The figure showed that Filipino seamen comprised more than 25 percent of 1.5 million mariners worldwide, the "single biggest nationality bloc" in the shipping industry.

[1] In 2009, during the 28th joint meeting of the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee senior adviser of Komatsu Ltd. Toshitaka Hagiwara declared that 70% of Japanese maritime operations were manned by Filipinos seamen.

According to president and chief executive officer of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation Doris Magsaysay-Ho, there were more than 28,000 Filipino crewmembers on board Japanese ships.

Although classified as "non-domiciled special members", Filipino seamen comprised 55% of the membership of the All Japan Seaman's Union.

[10] In August 2007, according to Captain Rudy Lupton, commanding officer of the USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) (the command ship in the Pacific of the 7th fleet of the United States) around 120 (one-sixth) of the 650 seamen of the USS Blue Ridge were Filipino.

[8] A substantial number of Filipino seamen worldwide were often employed by Flag of Convenience (FOC) ships or "sweatships", meaning ships that were registered in a country (flag of registry, or FOR) other than the country of ownership where registration fees were cheap, taxes are low or non-existent, and there were lax restrictions on the employment of cheap labor.

[7] On a similar note, former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon hoped that many Filipino youth would join the seamen's profession.