Licensed manning agencies operating in the country are opposed to the potential total ban on Filipino seafarers boarding vessels navigating the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden which have been classified as high-risk and war zones due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the terror group Hamas.

The Association of Licensed Manning Agencies (ALMA), representing over 80-member agencies employing 170,000 seafarers, contend that the seafarers should have the discretion to decide whether or not to embark on voyages through the troubled waters.

“We feel for the Filipinos who died and were wounded in the various Houthi attacks if we will base it on the humanitarian aspect. But we are not for a total ban because we also need to consider its effects on the future employment of our seafarers, as well as the economic and commercial aspects,” said Christina Garcia, president of ALMA Maritime.

“If we ban our Filipino seafarers totally, shipowners would resort to getting other races instead of ours,” she added during DAILY TRIBUNE’s Usapang OFW show.

Garcia said ALMA members were enforcing Department Order 2, signed by Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac in April of this year, granting seafarers the right to decline assignments aboard vessels scheduled to traverse the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

On Monday, Cacdac disclosed that to date, only 78 Filipino seafarers had exercised their right to refuse to sail due to the ongoing attacks by the Yemen-based pro-Iranian Houthi group in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Many Filipino seafarers, however, are willing to sail in the dangerous waters due to the attractive high salaries and hazard pay offered.

“Our ALMA members feel that this should continue because it’s our seafarers’ decision as they have their reasons, including livelihood and personal reasons. We are saying this because the DMW is considering a total ban, which we want to defy,” Garcia said.

Nevertheless, Garcia emphasized their understanding of the DMW’s mandate to safeguard the welfare of Filipino seafarers, stressing the importance of achieving a balance.

“What we want to suggest is government-to-government talks between the flag state carriers and the Philippine government. It would be more viable to ban vessels traversing the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and find another route around Africa, rather than banning the seafarers. Although there will be added costs on the part of the shipowners. Traversing the African route would take an additional 22 days for a ship to reach a destination,” according to Garcia.