IRI (International Registries and its affiliates) has opened an office in Manila for Marshall Islands Registry staffed by four personnel who have a background of working with respect to ship and crew management. IRI’s worldwide staff is now over 350 employees.
IRI, who provide administrative and technical support to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry, opened their 27th worldwide office in Manila, Philippines as fleet growth passes new milestone of surpassing 126 million gross tons at the end of October 2015 and more than 3,650 vessels and is the third largest in the world. “IRI’s decentralization model has resulted in the unprecedented growth,” said John Ramage, Chief Operating Officer of IRI.
“More than 250,000 seafarers are in possession of an RMI Seafarer’s Identification and Record Book (SIRB), 35% of which are from the Philippines,” continued Mr Ramage. “All of them need new or refresher training and certification as a result of the Manila Amendments to STCW prior to the entry into force date of 1 January 2017,” said Captain Robert Fay, IRI’s Senior Vice President, Maritime Operations.
“Many Certificates of Competency and Proficiency issued in the past few years will be expiring on 31 December 2016,” he continued. “The new seafarer documentation office in Manila will work in coordination with offices in Hong Kong and Mumbai to train and certify Filipino seafarers in order to provide needed documentation in a timely manner,” said Annie Ng, Head of Asia for IRI.
There are currently three individuals processing applications and issuing Certificates of Receipt of Application (CRAs) in Manila, with plans to recruit additional personnel in January 2016. “We plan to augment personnel here in Manila as needed to provide the best service possible,” concluded Leo Bolivar.
Source: International Registries (IRI)
