People
from the social media often tell me that I should refrain from posting any
negative comments about company. The problem about the seafarer life in the
Philippines is that it's too dogmatic and too Fascist ., you can almost
criticize everything save for the shipping companies, when it comes to
discussing or even mentioning negative remarks on this - it is immediately
labelled as "TABOO" as if like their authority are absolute, and
should not be questioned at all
I
remember an old saying in history channel about the history of European monarch
or the roman catholic church in medieval times.
"Absolute power means
Absolute Corruption"
For
now I will discuss point here about the good points first in this company ,
Their selling points
- Both local Manning Company and its principal are generous (at least while you're still in the philippines). They will treat new hires to a hotel room and pay for everything.
- Their ships are one of the most advance and modern
- Well-known name for working credentials
- 6 Months contract
- Allotment is never delayed and arrive early.
- Almost no age requirement
For
those who don’t want to know the dark side and negative comments . DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS LINE
- 7am to 7pm Working hours, overworked and underpaid There are no rest days on their ship, crew will work Sundays till Saturdays
- Filipino Crews here are practically moochers and booth lickers (sipsip sa filipinong salita at palakasan)
- CONTRACT RELATED ISSUES, Deceptive Contracts (you sign up a contract as a regular crew and end up being a riding crew , worst part they never mentioned the contract changes and you will only knew when you're onboard their ship, contract doesn’t even say specifically that you're a riding crew )
- "Uwak" Officers and "UWAK" Policies
- UNFAIR TREAMENT , Crews get fired over and sent home immediately over the simplest things without due process, like brining a cardboard cutter onboard , drinking beer while on shore leave, any form they consider a violation of their personal interpretation to "safety" - and yes they fire crews immediately without any due process , this how iron fisted the management is.
- Safety Equipment Advance but NOT WELL SUPPLIED or REGULARLY TO CREW . PPE is modern and yet they will never issue you a new one., In other words your practically stuck with the same PPE for the whole duration of the contract. If you really want to be issued a new PPE,. You will have to first show the old PPE you got before being issued another one and debate over it whether you should be given or not.
- Too many Regulations and Rules of "SAFETY" (safety is questionable on the fact that they are too controlling and too severe , plus exaggerated safety policies. No medicines allowed , Injuries have to be concealed because the principal avoid paying for insurance, etc
- NO SHORELEAVE and Almost impossible to get one if not limited. All persons who wish to have a shore leave must first sign a form a week or two weeks before port and have to wait for approval.
- ANONYMOUS REPORTING SYSTEM . There exist an anonymous reporting system in shell that acts like a dreaded "secret police" , almost anybody can be fired on the spot and be sent home immediately if they get reported by any anonymous crew member if they find you're doing "unsafe" act. They just fill out a form and submit it and it directly goes to the principal. The unsuspecting victim then receives a plane ticket and be fired., they say that he was fired because of committing questionable "unsafe" acts.
- POOR TO NO PROMOTION TO CREWS . Based on their odd and repressive working standards, Transition and promotion from one rank to another is almost practically stagnant. Before and O.S. get promoted to A.B. , he could be dealing with a lot of years serving on different ships before they would even consider promotion., aside from that The O.S. rank here is just practically "By paper" and that the real work and duties he would be doing are already as an A.B. ., To simply say youre hired as an O.S. and yet unofficially you're doing work as an A.B. and their paying you less than what contract you signed for. If a poor person is really desperate to get a promotion ., a lot of paper work should be done first (aside from work) .,
