Indeed, that’s what a Filipino seafarer is. But what is a seafarer by the way. According to www. pinoymaritime. com, a seafarer is a traveler who goes by the sea. Or even a person who works near the ocean. Seafarers come from all over the world spending their lives close to the seas as they find life at sea to be a unique existence. They come from different backgrounds and cultures, and they work in varied areas of the shipping business. A person must have a strong mental ability and an established tough physical foundation, along with adoptive and flexible attitude.
Now, how can I best represent myself as a Filipino seafarer, I can best represent myself as a ship piercing through the waves of the seas. We know that a waves is one factor that makes the ship capsize, it can slows down a ship or can make a ship vanished and then appear again. A ship in a sea is like an island, but the only difference is that an island is not moving while the ship is moving. Loneliness will always be there. You will be away from your family and love ones for a month or even a year. But look at the bright side. You will have a lot of money. You can go in different places, tourist spots and can meet different kind of people.
Waves can change a life of a seafarer. It can destroy a life or help in some other ways. Big waves can put you up sometimes down. But don’t let it pull you down. Make it a challenge to improve your self. Life at sea is no joke. As a Filipino seafarer, I represent myself as a ship piercing through a wave because for me, a wave is one big problem that will always occur anywhere and anytime. The forward part of the ship is design to cut through waves. Like a ship, Filipino seafarers are design to pass through these problems. There will be no problems a Filipino seafarer can surpass.
Filipino seafarers are also competitive. According to www. crosworldmarine. com, over 400,000 Filipino seafarers were deployed last year (2011) and the demands continue to grow. This includes the crewmembers and officers. Also according to this site, “The said statistics came from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). The government agency is responsible for processing the files of Filipino workers working abroad. The POEA based the impressive mark from the number of approved and processed documents of Filipino seafarers who are now working on various vessels around the world.
Currently, there us a 14. 1 % increase for the seafarers and another 4. 3 percent for land based workers in the international maritime industry. ” Now, who said Filipino seafarer is not a world class and not competitive? If Filipino seafarers are not competitive and world class, why are they in demand? Why there are Filipino Officers? Why? Can you defend your answer? Sometimes, we need to believe in the things that we don’t believe in. Everything is not constant, they tend to change, for better or worst.
