THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) will roll out this week additional documentary requirements for shipowners and manning agencies to ensure their Filipino seafarers on board ships bound for the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, will be able to exercise their right to refuse (RTR) sailing.
In an online press conference on Wednesday, DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans J. Cacdac said they will release new implementing guidelines, as approved by the Maritime Industry Tripartite Council (MITC), for processing RTRs before the end of the week.
The guidelines will include a new downloadable form, which concerned seafarers can fill up to the avail of the RTR. The form must then be submitted to the DMW via email, to the agency’s website or social media pages.
It will also require shipowners and the manning agencies to submit periodic reports to DMW’s Overseas Filipino Worker Monitoring System (OFWMS), if their ships, which have Filipino crew members, will traverse the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
“So, we want to collect in real time the accomplished form of a seafarer, who decided to refuse to sail upon knowing that [their] ship will pass through the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden,” Cacdac said in Filipino.
He said the new protocol also includes a hotline for Filipino seafarers, who want to avail themselves of the RTR, but are unable or do not want to fill up the necessary form for it.
The guidelines, Cacdac said, also aims to ensure RTR availees will not face any discrimination, reprisal or be blacklisted by their shipowners or manning agencies.
DMW noted that shipowners and manning agencies that are unable to comply with the new RTR requirements will face sanctions.
As of Wednesday, Cacdac said they have yet to receive any report of Filipino seafarers, whose ships will be passing the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.
Warlike areas
The DMW official made the announcement after the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) said last Monday that it decided to elevate the status of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea from “high-risk” to “warlike” areas.
This after Houthi rebels hijacked last year the ship, Galaxy Leader, and fired a missile attack against the merchant vessel True Confidence earlier this month.
Among the hostaged crew of Galaxy Leader, 17 were Filipino seafarers, while two Filipinos died when True Confidence was attacked.
Cacdac said the MITC support the “warlike” classification of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea since it will compel more shipowners not to pass in the said areas.
“Seafarers are not soldiers. They are not navy officers, so they are not properly equipped to engage themselves in war-like situations. That is why we are just instituting these measures precisely to operationalize the right to refuse sailing,” the DMW official said.
The MITC is pushing for the deployment of onboard security personnel and maritime security escort for ships, which will pass through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden sea routes.