Braving hurdles from hijacking and pirate attacks to the cold and stormy weather in the high seas and shipwrecks, more than 350,000 Filipino sailors on board the world's merchant marine fleets have become the biggest drivers of homebound foreign exchange remittances.
The amount of dollars sent home by sea-based Filipino workers abroad has been growing three times faster than remittances by their land-based counterparts, according to The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
Citing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas statistics, TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said Filipino sailors sent home a record $2.393 billion in the nine months to September, up a whopping 43.35 percent compared to the $1.669 billion that they remitted over the same period last year.
In contrast, remittances by land-based Filipino workers abroad grew by only 12.17 percent to $9.879 billion in the nine months to September, versus $8.807 in the same period last year.
Filipino sailors sent home $1.669 billion in 2005; $1.949 billion in 2006; and $2.236 billion in 2007.
"Our computation shows that each Filipino sailor now sends home an average of $760 monthly," said Herrera, former chairman of the senate labor, employment and human resources development committee.
Filipino sailors are able to send home large amounts because they receive higher pay and do not have to spend for rent, food and utilities.
"Unlike land-based Filipino workers abroad, sailors live where they work. Employers take care of their food and even their personal communication needs. Thus, they spend only when they get to port, mostly for recreation," said the former senator.
General-purpose staff on ships are paid up around $1,250 while officers receive approximately $3,000 monthly.
Herrera said he does not see the nearing global recession dampening in a big way the hiring of Filipino sailors. "Fortunately for us, the global balance of economic power has clearly shifted from the West to the East, largely on account of the robust economies of, and brisk trading around China, India and Russia," he said.
Japan, a huge beneficiary
"A huge beneficiary of this shift is Japan, which has one of the world's largest merchant marine fleet and is strategically located in the region. Japan now employs more than 50,000 Filipino sailors. In fact, seven out of every 10 sailors on board Japan's merchant ships are Filipinos," he added.
The China factor aside, Japan also imports most of its food and industrial requirements. Thus, it has to trade actively around the world for domestic consumption, he added.
Only last week, two large Japanese shipping operators said they intend to engage another 7,000 Filipino sailors to drive new vessels under their fleet expansion plans.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said it would need another 3,800 Filipino sailors to run 200 new ships between now and 2010. Mitsui already employs more than 14,000 Filipino sailors. The company has one of the world's largest fleet of bulk carriers, containerships, pure car carriers (PCCs), very large crude carriers (VLCCs), chemical, gas and product tankers, wood chip carriers and heavy lifters.
Meanwhile, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. ("K" Line) said it would require another 3,200 Filipino sailors to run 280 new vessels between now and 2012.
Piracy Problem
On Thursday, the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that pirates off Somalia seized seven more Filipino sailors.
The seven Filipinos were part of the 25-man crew of the bulk cargo carrier MV Delight, owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines Group and bearing a Hong Kong flag.
The ship was carrying 38,000 metric tons of wheat from Hong Kong to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas when it was hijacked on Nov. 18 near the Gulf of Aden.
The seven brought to 201 the total number of Filipino sailors seized by pirates from 17 vessels this year. As of Friday, the DFA said 134 of the Filipino sailors are still being held hostage by hijackers.
