VDR President Dr Gaby Bornheim said: „The decision is an extremely important step towards ensuring quality standards and fostering international cooperation in maritime transport. Filipino seafarers also make up an indispensable part of crews in the German shipping sector. Thanks to the European Commission’s decision, there will finally be planning security and dependability now for the future as well.”

Filipino seafarers represent a key group of the skilled workers deployed on ships around the world and in great numbers. In fact, roughly 50,000 Filipino seafarers are working on EU-flagged ships alone. Their expertise and skills are vital for safe and efficient maritime transport.

The EU’s decision is additionally an important signal to other countries that also want to train seafarers and recognise their seafarer certificates. „Maintaining high internationally applied quality standards in the training and certification of seafarers is essential and a necessary prerequisite for the safe operation of our ships,” Bornheim continued.

The VDR would like to thank the European Commission and the Philippine authorities for their dedicated cooperation and efforts to ensure a consistently high level of safety and quality in maritime transport.