All Hands on Deck: Ensuring Sustainability in Philippine Maritime Education through Global Standards Compliance

Abstract

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) flagged the Philippines for noncompliance with STCW (Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping) requirements. The Philippines’ failure to improve their Maritime Education and Training (MET) puts the country’s eligibility for Filipino seafarers’ employability at risk. Data obtained from interviews with a partner maritime institution will be used to evaluate if the partner institution complies with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) adjustments and EMSA’s requirements by looking at the second key area. The researchers used legal frameworks and management frameworks (internal and external factor evaluation) to assess the partner institution’s performance. Even if the Philippines has just recently passed the EMSA audit, this paper would be beneficial to continue improving Philippine MET to avoid negative future international audits. Overall, the researchers recommend that the partner institution reinstate its BS in Marine Engineering and Electro-technology program, that the maritime industry develops its training programs and governance system, and that future researchers include all six key areas to provide a better assessment of the industry’s sustainability.

Keywords: Maritime education and training, Philippine maritime industry, Sustainability, EMSA