1998: Third National Seafarers' Day

The Third  National Seafarers' Day was celebrated on  September 27, 1998  with the theme "MARINONG FILIPINO: MARANGAL NA NAGLILINGKOD Sa MUNDO" at the Philippine Coast Guard , South Harbor Manila. 

Former president Fidel V. Ramos earlier issued on July 9, 1996 Proclamation No. 828 declaring August 18 as National Seafarers Day wherein  the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) was tasked to coordinate with the public and private sector in   activities related to the celebration of said event. The purpose of the Proclamation is to give due recognition to the vital role of Filipino seafarers towards the development of the Philippines as a maritime country. Later,  Proclamation No.1094 was issued in 1997 by President Ramos which moved NSD    to every  last Sunday of September every year. 

Per 1998 government data, there were 193,300 documented seafarers deployed abroad with employment contracts approved by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)  with dollar remittances reaching US$274.55   million. Present data showed that there were 367,166 Filipino seafarers deployed in 2013 with dollar remittances of US$5.575 billion in 2014.

The  recipients for the   first  Outstanding Seafarers of the Year Award  (OSYA) include the following: 

a. C/E EDWIN M. CRISTOBAL

b. CAPT. BENEDICTO C. DESPI

c.CAPT. ALBERTO T. MALAGA

d. CAPT. LEO P. ORQUILLAS

e, CAPT. LEUEL  P. OSEÑA

f. CAPT. RAMON DE RAMA

g. 2/O EDUARDO R. ROLDAN h. C/E RODOLFO B. VIRTUDAZO

 Maritime incidents and Filipino seafarers casualties: The shipping industry and seafaring  profession were not without incident or peril. There were maritime disasters that resulted in the loss of life of and injury to Filipino seafarers . The following is a table showing some events in recent years that caused harm or death to seafarers  from the Philippines while on assignment abroad

6 January 1998	Sinking of ship	Off the Newfoundlandcoast	The Flare	Bulk carrier	Cyprus	16	Death
22 July 1998	Sinking of ship	Off Kharg Island, Iran	Borvigilant	Tugboat	United Arab Emirates	9	6 deaths, 3 survivors
December 1998	Disappearance of ship	Taiwan Strait	Pixy Mario	Cargo ship	Panama	19	Declared missing

The 22nd National Seafarers Day is all  set on September 24,2017  with the theme "Marinong Filipino: Nag-uugnay sa Mundo!". 

The #NSD22 #NSD2017 activities nationwide led by the #ApostleshipoftheSea ( #AOS ) include the Memorial at Sea, High Mass, Oratorical/ Art/ Photo Contest, Harana by the Bay, Boodlefight, Karaoke challenge, and the Search for Top Ten Outstanding Maritime Students. One of the highlights is the Grand Parade to be participated in by more than 4000 stakeholders from maritime schools, government agencies, manning agencies, training centers, maritime organizations, unions, families and private institutions