(Manila, Philippines) May 9, 2019 – The Maritime Industry Authority of the Philippines (MARINA) will be using blockchain for seafarer certification.
Blockchain solutions provider Navozyme signed the agreement with Marina to facilitate better exchange of data between the government agency and its stakeholders in the seafaring industry, as reported by the Manila Times.
More importantly, certificate issuance will be enabled via blockchain. Callling it “digitally secured maritime certificates”, the Navozyme Crew Authentication Platform (NCAP) is designed for “real-time exchange of certificate-related information”. Ms. Patricia Fernandez, Navozyme’s PH country lead said this will help eliminate fake certificate issuance and, along the way, increase the Philippine maritime industry’s reputation. The company is currently working closely with other maritime organizations, like the Magsaysay Maritime Corporation for pilot testing.
Navozyme has also piloted this in other countries. In the UK, the company created the “Blockchain for Maritime Decisionmakers” workshop.
The Navozyme Certificate Authentication Platform (NCAP) is just one of the two initiatives of Navzoyme; the other being the “Navozyme Maritime Authentication Platform” (NMAP). This one is for ship owners, managers, and port authorities handling port clearance processing.
While Maritime Overseas Filipino Workers account for only 3% of the entire OFW demographic, they represent 15% of OFW remittances to the Philippines. One of their key problems is documentation. Blockchain is seen as that trustless technology that can verify certificates and clearances without the usual long process of checks and balances. This is believed to be helpful as documentation takes a lot on the seafarer’s limited time on land.
