MARINA to refund admin fines of 89 seafarers with document issues

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) on Thursday said it will refund the administration fines imposed on 89 seafarers who were deemed to have failed to maintain valid identification and record books.

MARINA administrator Sonia Malaluan said the seafarers would have to wait for a call from the agency to ask for their bank or e-wallet details.

She explained that some seafarers were confused on whether they should use their Seafarer's Identification and Record Book (SIRB) or their Seafarer's Record Book (SRB) and Seafarer's Identity Document (SID).

These documents are issued to mariners for purposes of onboard employment and international travel.

The SIRB contains both the SRB and SID and has a validity of 10 years.

However, to comply with the International Maritime Organization, MARINA issued the SRB and SID separately in 2019, which have a five-year validity.

Malaluan said Filipino seafarers with valid SIRB may still use them.

"Kung may valid SIRB ka, pwede pang gamitin. Meaning, hindi mo kailangan kumuha ng SID at SRB. That is enough," Malaluan said in a press briefing in Manila.

(If you have a valid SIRB, you can use that. Meaning, you don't need to get an SID and SRB. [The SIRB] is enough.)

"Pero kung naubos ang pages, nawala, nasira, mag apply ng bago ang ating mga seafarers, kukuha na sila ng SID plus SRB," she added.

(But if they run out of pages, misplaced your SIRB or damaged it, our seafarers should apply for a new one. They need to get a SID and SRB.)

She explained that some seafarers have all three documents and MARINA penalized them when it found that one of the documents has expired.

However, MARINA will refund their penalties after reviewing their cases. —RF, GMA News