To comply with the requirements of 2010 Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping (STCW) 2010 Manila Amendments, the Maritime Training Council (MTC) has revised several maritime training courses. This announcement was made by The Labor Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz as MTC is an attached agency of the Labor Department.

To comply with the requirements of 2010 Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping (STCW) 2010 Manila Amendments, the Maritime Training Council (MTC) has revised several maritime training courses. This announcement was made by The Labor Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz as MTC is an attached agency of the Labor Department.

Baldoz said, “The MTC, in cooperation with its member agencies and private maritime organizations, has already developed seven (7) out of the eleven (11) new courses that need to be developed under the Manila Amendments.”

The new courses are scheduled to be pilot-tested and submitted to MTC for approval in the first three months of 2012. These are the new courses: Security Training for Seafarers with Designated Security Duties, Able Deck, Able Engine, Advanced Training for Oil Tanker Cargo Operations, Security Awareness Training, Basic Training for Oil and Chemical Tanker Cargo Operations and Electro-Technical Officer.

The Labor Secretary added that the new course syllabus for the following courses: Operational Use of Electronic Chart Display (ECDIS), Management Level Course for Deck and Engine Officers, Personal Safety and Social Responsibility, Training in Passenger Safety, Cargo Safety and Hull Integrity and degree courses for Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and Marine Engineering (BSMT and BSMarE) have been finalized and will also be submitted to MTC for approval in the first quarter of 2012.

Baldoz said, “We are aiming for the earliest completion and approval of all the courses required under the STCW Manila Amendments so that our seafarers can already start taking these courses prior to the full implementation of the said Amendments by 2017."

"We are likewise updating and revising our rules and instruments to strengthen our legal and administrative structures to respond to the provisions on education, training, certification, medical standards, and other requirements of the Manila Amendments,” she added.

The goal of the STCW Manila Amendments is to improve the standards of seafarers training in the Philippines so they can cope with the advancements in the shipping industry.

The Amendments were adopted during the International Maritime Organization's Diplomatic Conference held in Manila in June 2010.

The STCW Convention and its associated Code entered into force last 01 January 2012, with a five-year transitional period until 01 January 2017.