“I REMEMBER a guest who almost drowned in one of the beaches in Boracay. I was there, able to rescue him. I also applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately upon pulling him off the water. I saved a life, and it’s all because of the trainings I received from Marina,” Carl David Santuyo, a boat crew and scuba diver in Caticlan, Malay, Aklan, said.
Santuyo was among the thousands of boatmen in Caticlan who believed that trainings are more than just requirements for certification. For them it is a lifeline for both crew and passengers.
This was echoed by Marina Administrator Sonia Malaluan who emphasized that safety at sea is everyone’s responsibility — the ship’s crew, ship owners, passengers, and the government.
Last March 24, about 48 boatmen have participated in the Maritime Industry Authority’s (Marina) Modified Basic Safety Training (MBST) at the Caticlan-Boracay Transport MPC.
Santuyo was among the boatmen and boat operators who underwent the said training.
MBST is a requirement for the application of the Seafarer’s Identification Book (SIB) for seafarers working onboard Philippine Registered vessels below 35 gross tonnage (GT).
It includes Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting (FPFF), Elementary First Aid (EFA), Personal Safety and Social Responsibility (PSSR) and Personal Survival Technique (PST), Typhoon Awareness and Preparedness, and Gender and Development (GAD).
According to Gloria Pedroso-Legarde, trainer and assessor of Marina Regional Office (MRO) 6, the MBST was tailor-fit to the needs of boatmen who navigate waters traversed by a high volume of tourists, thus, it includes trainings on interpersonal relations with local and international travelers.
To ensure that skills and licenses are up to date, Marina regularly conducts said training for boatmen — a maximum of two per year in Caticlan and a maximum of three in Boracay.
This benefits the thousands of boatmen who work aboard the 670 vessels navigating the Caticlan-Boracay route. Figures released by Marina shows that there are 71 cargo ships, 165 wooden-hulled recreational boats (WHRB), 125 wooden-hulled passenger boats, 53 fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) passenger boats, and 256 recreational boats.
These are managed by a total of 26 boat operators who are holders of Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC).