The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and the World Wide Fund for Nature - Philippines (WWF) recently forged a partnership to stop tons of marine plastic litter plaguing the oceans.
The two signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to reduce plastic pollution by preventing plastic leakage into ports and the ocean — which negatively impacts marine life, human health, and livelihoods, according to MARINA OIC-Deputy Administrator for Planning (DAP) Sonia B. Malaluan.
“Our goal is for a green maritime Philippines: protect and conserve," said MARINA Shipyards Regulation Service (SRS) Director Engr. Ramon Hernandez.
"We can only achieve this by eliminating marine pollution or mitigating marine environment threats from ports, ships, and shipyards,” he maintained.
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The initiative is aligned with the MARINA’s Maritime Industry Development Plan (MIDP) Program 10, which is highly-focused on protecting the marine environment.
Hence, “We ensure that ships are fitted with the necessary equipment and machineries, mechanisms in place, and other features that will minimize their contribution to pollution and properly enforce marine environmental protection laws while the ship is at sea,” according to Hernandez.