The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has launched in Bacolod City a training institute that aims to provide global leadership training to all maritime professionals.
The MARINA Training Institute (MarTI) in Bacolod, situated at the agency's Western Visayas regional office in Barangay Mansilingan, is the academic arm of MARINA.
It is envisioned to become the country's Maritime Innovation and Knowledge Center under Program 8 of the 10-year Maritime Industry Development Plan (MIDP).
MARINA Administrator Vice Admiral Robert A. Empedrad said MarTI intends to improve the agency's capacity to innovate and operate modern technologies and help in addressing the changing trends in the maritime industry, as well as "to serve as a systematic educational and training system/facility."
During the virtual launch of the program last week, Empedrad noted how fast knowledge expands and how swiftly advancements have occurred in communications technology as applied to navigation.
"(The) Maritime sector is a very progressive and fast-paced industry and if MARINA and its stakeholders will not act accordingly, the Philippine Maritime Industry will be left behind. That’s is the reason for the immediate operationalization of the MarTI," Empedrad said.
For its maiden project, the MarTI hosted a three-day webinar on the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, which is based on the MEPSEAS Training Course on the Legal Implementation of the Ballast Water Management Convention.
It is designed to provide a common set of knowledge and skills to all participants to enable them to take appropriate action in their various capacities towards the implementation of the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention.
According to Empedrad, the MarTI will be headed by officer-in-charge Presca Lee B. Lugo, one of the Maritime Education and Training Standards Supervisors of the MARINA STCW Office.
For the meantime, the institute will operate virtually in observance of safety and health protocols resulting from the current pandemic.