Filipino seafarers now have the opportunity to be globally connected with their families as merchant vessels in Europe going hi-tech to ease the loneliness and homesickness experienced by many seamen.
In a report by ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau chief Danny Buenafe, under the Crew Welfare Initiative, Filipino seafarers now have the chance to get internet access and webcam facility on board their vessels even while it is on sail.
Buenafe cited the case of Rolando Guia who is happy to talk to his wife Hilda in Manila via webcam while he is on board a container vessel.
Guia has been a seaman for more than 20 years, a job deprived of normal communication links with the outside world.
Guia is just one of the more than 200,000 Filipino seamen all over the world. Filipinos make up about 20-percent, or 2 out of 10 of the 1. 2 million ship workers worldwide.
Seamen spend a lot for communication, especially when they use a satellite phone on shore.
They now look forward to the future--a 24-7 internet and webcam access that will change their lives at a minimum cost.
"In most cases they are able to communicate back home, to their families, to their loved ones, to the community," said Thomas Muller, managing director of the Universal Marine Communication (UMC).
The UMC believes shipowners will welcome the project because it doesn’t require any investment, just an affordable monthly service fee. A big portiion of the monthly fees will also come from the subsidies paid by the seafarers.
With this, UMC claims shipowners will achieve higher crew retention, cut overtime and minimize paper work.
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau was part of the experience, dissecting the dangerous and sad life of a seafarer. The team boarded a vessel that sailed from Hamburg to Antwerp in Belgium
Lack of sleep and dizziness go with the job. Communication is something they can’t do without, and a monthly rate of less than 100 dollars is well within their budget.
Like Guia, most Filipino seamen see this technology as something that will bind the family stronger than ever. -- With King Bueno, Antwerp
as of 02/06/2009 7:38 PM
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