Seamen rush to burned Marina office for work documents

The fire that destroyed the office of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) in Manila is keeping not just firefighters worried, but also seamen leaving for abroad as well. Radio dzBB reported Friday morning that while firefighters kept guard at the Marina office to prevent the fire from starting again, seamen rushed to the site for their Seaman's Book. Marina administrator Vicente Suazo Jr. admitted that because of the fire, he is now scrambling to produce blank Seaman's Books, documents that seamen will need for their deployment abroad. The Marina's offices at the PPL Building in Manila were destroyed after a predawn fire hit the building Wednesday. The fire "restarted" before dawn Thursday five hours after firefighters initially declared the fire out. Suazo said he has asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for 6,000 blank copies of the Seaman's Book, and the Marina's regional office to send additional blank copies. He estimated the Marina still has some 10,000 blank copies of the Seaman's Book, which he said will be good for "two to three months." But Suazo appealed to seamen, particularly those who have not yet secured their plane tickets for abroad, not to rush to the Marina office at this time. Suazo said Marina will prioritize those who already secured their plane tickets. Meanwhile, the dzBB report said that as of Friday morning, some firefighters were still stationed at "Ground Zero" for mopping-up operations. The firefighters were also wary of the fire starting up again, like it did before dawn Thursday. - GMANews.TV