Manila, Philippines – The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has commenced the operations of its processing centers at its main office in Port Area, Manila beginning Saturday for the issuance of Seafarers’ Record Books (SRB) and Seafarers’ Identity Documents (SID) in response to the growing public clamor to open more slots and accommodate walk-in applicants especially for seafarers who are scheduled to join their vessels anytime soon after completing their mandatory 14-day quarantine period in accredited hotels.

At its Regional Office in Batangas City, the MARINA extends an hour daily for SRB/SID processing/issuance.

The MARINA issues an average of 5,000 SIDs and SRBs weekly nationwide.

Capt Jeffrey P Solon, Officer-in-Charge at the Office of the Deputy Administrator for Planning said that he has taken seriously legitimate issues raised by concerned seafarers, particularly on availability of slots and has requested staff responsible for the processing of these documents to extend further their services. Capt Solon is the official responsible for overseeing the issuance of these seafarer-related documents and sees that this kind of overtime arrangement will run until the end of March this year.

“We have allowed walk-in applications in all MARINA Offices nationwide but Regional Directors have been given the full discretion to determine the number of slots that they can accommodate for applicants without appointments in consideration of existing health protocols and the number of staff available to process these documents”, Capt Solon further added.

The MARINA is currently investigating on allegations against some unscrupulous individuals reserving and selling slots for SRB/SID issuance at a certain cost.

“We encourage our seafarers to report these kind of illegal practices directly to the Office of the Administrator through email address: [email protected] so appropriate actions will be done, including coordination with law enforcement agencies.

The SRB/SID system is scheduled to undergo a systems and security audit this first semester to be carried out by independent IT experts to further enhance its integrity and credibility.

MARINA, however, reminds all its valued clients when transacting business to be mindful of health protocols such as by wearing face masks and face shields, observing social distancing, bringing sanitizers, and registering in the Online Health Monitoring Portal by scanning the quick response (QR) code displayed in the entrance of all MARINA Offices.