BY SAMMY JULIAN
METHANE hydrate, touted as a dream energy source, could exacerbate territorial conflicts in the South China Sea, according to experts.
Nicknamed fire ice, methane hydrate is a solid crystal in the form of ice that is formed when water and gas meet at high pressure and low temperature.
Since methane hydrate can release approximately 170 times more methane gas per volume of hydrate, it is expected to be an abundant source of energy in the future.
Last year, a high-purity methane hydrate reserve has been discovered by researchers in the northern part of the South China Sea.
The reserve, sitting off the coast of Guangdong Province, is estimated to span 55 square kilometers equivalent to from 100 billion to 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
It is also being claimed that the methane hydrate burial amount in the South China Sea is estimated to be enough to sustain China for the next 130 years.
This early, the Chinese government has already announced that it will step up exploration for methane hydrate which it believes to stretch to the south of the disputed region.
The move, however, could further add fuel to the tensions in the region as China is currently embroiled in heated territorial disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam over the South China Sea.
United States-based magazine Foreign Policy pointed out that “the fact that a bulk of methane hydrate is buried under the center of Asia’s territorial dispute is a big misfortune for the surrounding nations.”
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Here is another piece of good news: The European Commission Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DGMOVE) has agreed to send another audit team to the Philippines from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to look into the measures which the Philippine maritime authorities will be implementing to ensure compliance with standards set by the 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, as amended (STCW Convention).
DGMOVE’s favorable decision was the product of “a sustained and broad-based diplomatic offensive” launched by the Philippine ambassadors posted in European countries upon the instructions of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario “to stave off European withdrawal of recognition of Philippine STCW compliance certificates issued to Filipino seafarers.”
The Philippine envoys were directed to earnestly seek support from their respective host governments to give the Philippines an additional period within which to fully implement Republic Act No. 10635 which consolidates all compliance responsibilities to the STCW Convention with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA).
The new law, principally authored by Senate President Franklin Drilon in the Senate and ANGKLA Party-list’s Rep. Jesulito Manalo in the House of Representatives, was signed by President Benigno Aquino III only on March 13 or after the EMSA audit October last year.
Secretary Del Rosario made a similar appeal to the European ambassadors in Manila when he invited them to a meeting. He informed them of the focus and commitment of the Philippine government to satisfy STCW standards.
Through these combined efforts, the Philippines obtained the requested reprieve on April 23 during a meeting of DGMOVE’s Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (COSS) held in Brussels.
EMSA has been sending audit teams to the Philippines since 2006 to ensure that the 82,000 Filipino seafarers working on board European Union (EU)-flagged vessels are qualified and competent.
The last EMSA audit took place in October 2013 and its report was submitted to DGMOVE early this year. COSS was supposed to render a verdict on the status of the Philippine compliance with the STCW Convention during the April 23 meeting.
With the decision adopted by COSS, the Philippine government will now focus on providing support to MARINA as it rectifies deficiencies in the country’s maritime education system before the next EMSA audit.
The EMSA audit team is expected to arrive after the start of the new school year, around September or October, in order to monitor the delivery of maritime education by the country’s higher education and training institutions.
EMSA first threatened to ban Filipino maritime officers from EU-flagged ships in 2010 after a follow-up on a 2006 audit found recommendations on the STCW compliance had not been implemented.
STCW sets qualification standards for masters, officers and watch personnel on seagoing merchant ships. It was adopted in 1978 by conference at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, and entered into force in 1984. The Convention was significantly amended in 1995.
The STCW Convention was the first to establish basic requirements on training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers on an international level./PN
