There's isn't anything to write about this past few days and I guess the
only thing I could write on this entry is that up to now I'm still
contemplating on whether or not I should get a job on the domestic
shipping industry. I had been thinking a lot about this and quite
seriously , I definitely consider all the perk's and con's of going
there and haven't made up my mind yet.
Maybe I should write something else.
The cost of being a Filipino sailor , now that's a good topic.
So what does it take to be a Filipino sailor in the 20th century ? Hmm
Let me give you a picture of the road a high school student will take
just incase he/she has finally decided to join the band wagon.
ENROLLMENT
Enrollment alright, First off enrolling to a maritime school isn't
exactly as hard as "Other College" courses out there - especially if
your enrolling to a private school. Some schools have a sort of pseudo
entrance exam for formalities , in either case it doesn't matter whether
you passed or not. Just keep in mind that as long as you have loads of
money then you'd be fine. Keep in mind that there are two kinds of
Courses in being a seaman. One is BSMT ( the one's that become a captain
) and the other is BSME ( the ones that become a chief engineer)
The cheapest private maritime school at that time was PMI Colleges
(circa year 2001) which on that time was just only 11,000 PHP for the
schooling of 1st year 1st semester in overall cost which includes the
two sets of uniforms called summer white (the white overall thing) and
the black liberty (The half white thing). I compared the schooling price
in TIP over PMI and found out that , PMI was half less of the price.
Schooling to become a seaman takes roughly three years course and by the
time a student reaches the 3rd year 2nd semester , the tuition fee will
be doubled. Based on my experience I ended up having to pay the school
20,000 PHP for the tuition alone minus the miscellaneous expenses.
FOURTH YEAR
This is the hardest (and worst) part of all in finishing this college
course as far as based on my own experience. For some reason this
college course requires a student to "GET" an actual job as a seaman in
order to really finish it. More than half of the entire population gets
unemployed for several years (and in worst cases , DO NOT GET EMPLOYED
AT ALL), Students who are fortunate enough (referring to those "elitist"
ornery bastard schools like PMMA, MAAP, BMA, NYK-TDG MA,) get to have
the juiciest and worry free part. The rest of the students coming from
private schools get the crumbles and languish in being exploited,
underpaid and overwork by some (if not almost all )opportunistic
shipping companies.
Before a student gets "employed" for the fourth year in college , he/she
will have to take a number of those costly trainings from yet another
*training* school. Some seminars cost around 1200 PHP and some cost as
much as 6,000 PHP. On my experience this part costed me at round 60,000
- 50,000 PHP, this figure does not include the extra cost such as meals
, transportation etc.
Word of caution in taking these so called seminars. Take these only when
necessary and required by your employing company and always put the WALK
IN on the enrollment form whenever enrolling in a training center as a
precaution , why you may ask ? It so happens that some companies have an
agreement with training centers that whenever an enrollee mentions their
name on the enrollment form they get a cut on the money. Plainly
speaking those companies are making a profit on their applicants who are
not yet consider as employed and I could name two companies whom are
confirmed to be doing this , Scanmar shipping company is one of those,
and Seabird shipmanagement is another - I don't know about the rest.
After the harrowing cost of the so called *training* seminars, a
students also has to get and pay for the mandatory documents needed such
as C.O.C. , N.A.C. certificates on each seminars, passport , Seaman's
book and SRC card , and the so called "blue Logbook" issued by the CHED
.Overall these documents would cost as much as 6,000 PHP on the pockets
of the applicant / college student .
Finally before getting employed on a specific company , an applicant /
deck cadet should consider that he/she has a sponsor from or inside the
company (commonly called "backer" here in the Philippines). Without that
kind of factor a deck cadet would not even stand a chance being employed
or much less entertained In the company office. There is of course a
slim chance that a deck cadet would get employed without a " backer"
assuming that he/she has enough skills (and money) , there are still a
few companies who are in some ways (or extent) offer to join their
company - though not as a deck cadet (unfortunately these position is
reserved to the "elite" school - ha !). NYK shipping company and Dolship
company is one of those , and so is hammonia shipping company. Grim as
it maybe but most of the deck cadets out there end up without any
sponsors and treated to be unwanted.
Practical wise the easier part of being able to finish it, is to take a
chance in the domestic shipping industry. Don't get me wrong , its easy
to get inside the company but the main problem lies here in staying and
surviving for a year. Some domestic companies will let you "IN" for a
sum of money which ranges like 15,000 PHP to as much as 60,000 PHP and
you don't need a "Backer" for it , all the negotiation will be taken
care of by the peso bill. Sweet as it may sound but unfortunately the
typical naive deck cadet will find out later on that working for that
company is harrowing to say the least. From stories that I've heard the
food was horrible and having "pork chops" on your plate is a privilege
rather than a necessity. Some companies don't even pay the mandatory
benefits required by Philippine law such as Social security, Housing
loan and Health insurance, apparently from what I heard SULPICIO LINES
is notorious in this.
On my personal experience , only chose this option as a last resort when
all other options have been tried. Working on the domestic shipping has
an extreme amount of difficulty and never go there unprepared.
After being *employed* on a certain company and finishing the one year
prescribed for a BS degree. A student must go back to the school and
enroll the so called BS degree. Enrollment requirements varies depending
on which private maritime school you get to enroll at, On my case its
was fair easy given the fact that I never forgot to fill out the logbook
and pay the said "Enrollment Fee" by PMI which if I recall correct cost
about 15,596.80 PHP (Based on the receipt , circa 2012).
COMPARISON
I haven't exactly computed for the overall cost (or at least estimate)
on training a "Seaman" from start to finish , I could only estimate that
its close to half a million (or perhaps a million) PHP overall - a very
high priced course . The thing here is that I compared it to other
courses specifically Aero nautical schools and here's what I found out.
1. Aeronautical schools though a bit costly is just only for one year
compared to a maritime school were it goes to a full four years and
though the cost in only incremental , it is a fact that every now and
then you have to pay for something here.
2. Airline pilot have a smaller population, estimated to only a few
hundred to a thousand which might suggest that jobs opportunities in
this industry are big enough to accommodate everyone. Compared to
sailors were the estimated number is around 250,000 to 150,000 active
sailors alone, estimates could be as much as half a million to 750,000
overall which includes non active sailors. . Heck there is even a survey
that 30 PERCENT OF ALL SAILORS IN THE WORLD ARE FILIPINOS. So its very
obvious how crowded this job is - so crowded that this industry is badly
choked up and cannot support everyone.
3.Airline pilots have a less *medical requirement* compared to sailors.
In other words the medical exam is very lenient, compared to the
maritime industry were a sailor is thoroughly screened from head to
foot. From what I've heard certain medical problems that would render a
sailor "medical unfit" is considered "medically fit" if put on to
airline medical standards.
4.Airline Pilots have a "regularization" kind of job , were as a sailor
here is only based on a contractual kind of job. Simply put airline
pilots have more stability In work than a sailor.
Heck there is a huge difference in being a sailor and a commercial
airline pilot , Enough to make a college student question if maritime
profession was the *right* kind of college course to take.
