A meeting between NMP and MRO-MSAB to discuss the activities for the Maritime Week
TACLOBAN CITY – The National Maritime Polytechnic will join the International Maritime Industry in the celebration of the “National Maritime Week” this coming 24th until the 30th of September 2021 with the theme: “Seafarers at the core of shipping’s future”.
In line with the said week-long celebration, the NMP identified and lined-up various activities. As a kick-off, there will be a Media Partnership Forum on September 23, 2021, to present to the various media outlets the different events organized by NMP to mark the National Maritime Week Celebration. On the same day, NMP’s Executive Director, Joel B. Maglunsod will have a Virtual Guesting at the #Laging Handa Public Hearing program hosted by the Philippine Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Other forthcoming activities are as follows:
September 24, 2021
8:00 a.m. – Flag Dress-up or the symbolic display of various international Maritime Signal Flags used to communicate and convey short messages with ships at sea, will be done at the NMP training building.
September 27, 2021
8:00 am – Blood Letting – this activity to be facilitated by the Philippine Red Cross aims to develop the sense of volunteerism among men and women of NMP including its trainees and support the advocacy to save more lives.
September 28, 2021
7:00 am – Tree Planting – this aims to mitigate the effects of climate change and global warming by engaging people to plant more trees. The seedlings that will be planted will be provided by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Community Environmental and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), Palo Leyte.
September 29, 2021
6:00 a.m.– Beach Clean-up/Beachurero – The Beachurero Program has become a customary practice of NMP in the promotion of cleaner seashores and the ultimate preservation of our marine environment and to help improve the coastal ecosystem by removing the trash and other water pollutants. The coastal clean-up drive will be participated by NMP employees and trainees.
8:00 a.m. – PSA Online Registration of National ID – this will be facilitated by the Philippine Statistics Authority to usher the NMP registrants for the processing of the permanent Philippine Identification (PhilID) card.
10:00 am – Research Forum – The NMP Maritime Research Section will present one of its completed researches particularly the Study on the Assessment of NMP’s Capability to Conduct Online Training. This will also provide the strategies, interventions done and other recommendations to carry out programs effectively.
The Culmination Program will be held on September 30, 2021 at 2:00 in the afternoon to wrap-up the week-long celebration and to pay tribute to NMP trainees/seafarers.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a lead organization, has chosen to make 2021 a year of action for seafarers, who are facing unprecedented hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite their vital role as key workers for global supply chains.
The World Maritime Day is celebrated every last Thursday of September, as a way of appreciating the importance of the maritime industry, while the National Maritime Day is celebrated every last Friday of September of every year per Presidential Proclamation No. 886. This year’s theme, “Seafarers at the core of shipping’s future,” seeks to increase the visibility of seafarers by drawing attention to the invaluable role they play now and will continue to play in the future.
The focus on seafarers comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has placed extraordinary demands on seafarers, with hundreds of thousands of men and women stranded on ships for months beyond their original contracts, unable to be repatriated due to national travel restrictions. A similar number of seafarers are unable to join ships and earn a living. This crew change crisis, which has been ongoing for nearly a year, is a humanitarian emergency that threatens the safety of shipping.
Throughout the year, the World Maritime Day Theme will also put the spotlight on other issues related to the human element of shipping, including the safety and security of life on board ships, seafarers’ well-being, and the importance of ensuring an appropriately trained and qualified workforce, ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of digitalization and automation.
It is also noteworthy, that the Filipino-seafarers are now included in the priority list in the national COVID-19 Vaccination Program, placing them as part of the frontlines.
Meanwhile, the NMP, as the only government owned and operated maritime training and research center, which is also an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) mandated to upgrade and enhance the skills of the merchant Maritime Fleet of the country, continues the zealous efforts in the conduct of its training and research programs, and on-going training via online, blended and face-to-face mode with the observance of the minimum health and safety standard protocols.
To be updated of NMP’s programs, interested stakeholders may access our e-Research Program at https://research.nmp.gov.ph or they may visit our official website www.nmp.gov.ph to view and enroll via online the training schedule of our courses and other announcements relevant to our services.