HANOI, VIETNAM – The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) bagged the “Best Regional Identification Document” award at the High Security Printing (HSP) Asia Conference held in Hanoi, Vietnam for its development of the Seafarer Identity Document (SID) project to be implemented early next year. It bested six competitors including the Hong Kong ID, the new Taiwan e-Passport, the new Thailand e-Passport, and the new Afghanistan ID, among others.
The SID project is developed in compliance with the standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 185 or the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention 2003, as amended. Generally, the SID will provide the easy facilitation of our Filipino seafarers’ shore leave, cross border, transfer, and repatriation, by doing away the stringent requirement of visa.
Initially, the SID, which complements the existing Seaman’s Identity and Records Book (SIRB), is renewable every five years. Filipino seafarers can avail the benefits of SID in any of the 34 countries that have likewise ratified the ILO Convention No. 185 or the SID Convention including France, the Republic of Korea, and Spain.
In its eventual implementation, the MARINA will prioritize overseas Filipino seafarers in the application for the SID, but domestic Filipino seafarers may also avail of such document.
The MARINA is committed to uphold quality of the Philippine maritime human resources through the provision of extensive trainings and technologically-advanced documentations to our Filipino seafarers. The development of the SID is one of the initiatives in making this commitment possible.
Atty. Maria Rowena Hubilla, Director of the MARINA – Manpower Development Service (MDS), received the award on behalf of the agency, together with a representative from the FMC Research Solutions, Incorporated – the MARINA’s third party consultant in the development of the SID project.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was awarded the same recognition for its electronic passport (ePassport) in 2016.
The HSP Asia Conference is an annual international event organized by the Reconnaissance International – a leading global source of business intelligence on holography and authentication for document security, personal identification, and brand protection. The company hosts various conferences as a venue for international experts to discuss the latest advancements on anti-counterfeiting, anti-diversion, document and brand protection, and holography.
The HSP Asia Conference 2018 was attended by 56 world class exhibitors and key players in the field of high security printing documents industry and a total of 318 attendees coming from 139 organizations from over 39 countries, predominantly from Europe and Asia.
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