Magazine for seafarers, families launched at Museo Marina

By ANDREI MEDINA, GMA News

Published August 30, 2012 3:00pm

"Seafarer Asia" — a magazine for seafarers and their families — was launched on Tuesday in Manila at the Museo Marina, a new museum dedicated to Filipino maritime workers. Produced by Extraordinary Maritime Publishing, the glossy maiden issue (June to July 2012) of "Seafarer Asia" features 80 pages that cover a variety of topics ranging from piracy attacks to best ways to save money to love and relationship issues. The largest seafarers' union in the country — the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) owns the museum where the launching was held. One of the founders of AMOSUP is Captain Gregorio Oca, the father of "Seafarer Asia" publisher Marissa Oca. In an interview with GMA News Online during the launching of the bimonthly magazine, Ms. Oca said, "A lot of the maritime publications I believe currently available are very technical and talk about serious issues. We can call them trade and technical magazines.”

“With Seafarer Asia what we are endeavoring to produce is a magazine which humanizes all the participants in the maritime community specifically so that their extraordinary families – as we call them – can participate as well,” she added.

Ms. Oca said the magazine places the seafarers’ welfare on top of the list.

“So many things happen within families, the values that we treasure and all these values contribute to nation building,” she said.

“Keeping the values that seafarer families also have which I believe are also unique because of the distance that has to be bridged in family life,” she added.

Sacrifices of seafarers and their families

In a separate interview with GMA News Online during the media launch, Consulting Editor Regina Abuyuan said unlike other magazines, "Seafarer Asia" not only focuses on the maritime aspect of a seafarer’s life but also on their life off the ship.

“It doesn’t just have updates or news about the maritime industry, it has stories that the seafarer can use for his health, finances, his training and his leisure,” Abuyuan explained.

Abuyuan said she would like Seafarer Asia “to be a source of upliftment for the industry.”

“I believe that each and everyone can be a captain, can be an officer. So hopefully this magazine can change their self and major attitude of themselves and about the future to get more training, whether it’s formal training or safety or technical issues,” she said.

She also believes that the magazine will be a solid portal not only to enrich the lives of seafarers and their families but also to bridge them when they’re half a world apart.

“Things tend to get lost when you are away from the family for a long time and this magazine will keep them in touch,” she said.

“At the same time, so that a seafarer knows what’s happening and what he can do to get his relationship with his family,” she added.

Makabagong bayani

Abuyuan also cited the sacrifices of seafarers and their families. “I think much has been said about the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) being the hero and everything – yung makabagong bayani,” she said.

“People have to realize what the role of a family is in a seafarer being a hero,” she said.

Abuyuan said the magazine will contain real life stories of seafarers. The maiden issue includes a story about the first-hand account of a Filipina — Joanne Sirios — who was part of the ill-fated Costa Concordia ship in Italy. Sirios was among the 4,252 people aboard the luxury liner who scrambled for safety when the ship met an accident in January this year. Sirios told "Seafarer Asia" how screams of terror and gut-wrenching sobs filled the ship as everyone started to panic. Magazine sections

Abuyuan said "Seafarer Asia" has four main sections:

At Sea,
On Shore,
At Home, and
Anchors.

The "At Sea" section revolves on the lives of the seafarers while they are on board. The section tells of the fun experiences of living the life on the high seas and the dangers that go with the job such as pirate attacks.

According to Abuyuan, “this section will contain things you’ve never imagined.”

In the "On Shore" section, topics such as maritime agencies, places of leisure and distant shores are discussed.

Abuyuan describes this section as the life of seafarers away from work.

The "At Home" section, Abuyuan said, "has content on the training of seafarers and things such as where they should go here or abroad.”

“After career training, after being a seafarer, what do you do? Do you put up a business? Do you go back to school?” Abuyuan asked.

“This section also has advisable investments because these people earn a lot but sometimes they don’t know what to do with their money,” she said.

“Some seafarers don’t have the proper attitude or the right financial training so that section has it,” she added.

The final section of the magazine invokes the very core of a seafarer — what makes them human?

Just as an anchor keeps a ship in place, "Seafarer Asia" features articles that will help anchor a seafarer’s heart, keeping them connected to their families even when they are miles away.

Abuyuan likes to call it the “grounding section” containing topics like giving back to the community, gadgets that keep them in touch with their families, seafarer’s favorite sports and handling long-distance relationships. - VVP, GMA News

Tags: seafarers, museomarina