The increasing demand for more Filipino crew to work aboard superyachts all over the world has prompted a Filipino crew training centre to expand to other parts of the country to address this need.
So says Jose Santino S. Bunachita writing in the Cebu Daily News
Captain Jead Advincula the CEO of the Cebu-based Superyacht Academy in Asia and the Pacific Corp. (SAAP) said “Our goal is to have more Filipinos working on board super yachts,”
Locally, would be crew know that working on a yacht is more demanding than commercial ships and cruise liners, but because the compensation is also much higher crew were signing up in droves.
Wages for Filipinos working as staff in a cruise ship typically earn between $600 and $1,000 a month while superyacht crew such as stewards or stewardesses and deck handswould earn not less than $2,000 a month.
Advincula said,“Filipinos are starting to make names in this industry. They’re hardworking, keen, detailed, flexible, adaptable, and they tend to stay. That’s our advantage,” he added.
In comparison, he said that other yacht crew like those from European countries tend to work in shorter periods like one season or up to one to two years as they look at the job more as recreation.
On the other hand, Filipinos tend to stay longer as they see the job as a source of livelihood for their families.
SAAP is the only yachting academy in the Philipines that has been approved by International Yacht Training (IYT) Worldwide and it has been recognised by the Maritime Coastguard Academy (MCA) of Great Britain.
As such, his training centre has been able to give out licenses and certifications for their graduates that have been recognised by both the IYT and MCA in other parts of the world.