MARINA warns vs unauthorized online services for seafarers

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) on Thursday cautioned the public against unauthorized online groups offering to process documents for seafarers.

In an advisory, MARINA said it does not allow any Facebook groups or the like to process Seafarer’s Identity Document (SID), Seafarer’s Record Book (SRB), Certificate of Competency (COC), and Certificate of Proficiency (COP).

“Hindi pinapahintulutan ng MARINA ang anumang ‘online consultancy services,’ Facebook groups, Community chat groups o ibang katulad ng mga nasa larawan na mag-proseso ng anumang dokumento katulad ng SID, SRB, COC at COP,” the agency said. 

(MARINA does not authorize any 'online consultancy services,' Facebook groups, community chat groups or the like to process any document such as SID, SRB, COC and COP.) 

MARINA also advised seafarers to only inquire to accredited maritime training institutions (MTI) regarding their maritime training courses.

The list of training and assessment centers could be found on the website of MARINA’s Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) office.

For other information, they could also visit MARINA’s official social media accounts.—Giselle Ombay/AOL, GMA Integrated News