Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific frontage (Gregg Yan / Seafarer Asia)
No one knew what the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) was when I graduated in 2005,” recalls chief engineer John Paul Obdin. “We were part of MAAP’s third batch and when we went out to meet other seafarers, we had to explain what our school was all about.”
All that changed when John and his fellow MAAP graduates took their board exams. Every single one passed – a 100% success rate. “After that, we never had to explain what MAAP was to anyone,” recalls Obdin. “Today, the maritime industry knows what MAAP cadets are made of. That’s why they’re hired even before they leave the academy.”
Now poised to become one of Asia’s top maritime training institutions, MAAP prides itself in training tomorrow’s corps of elite Pinoy seafarers. Driven by their motto of ensuring excellence at sea at all times, the academy’s graduates have consistently posted sterling performances in licensure examinations, while its cadets are frequently included in the roster of the nation’s most outstanding maritime students.
Founded on 14 January 1998 by visionary Captain Gregorio Oca, who was also the president of the Associated Marine Officer’s and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP), MAAP sits on a sprawling 143-hectare plot in Mariveles, Bataan and offers four-year scholarship grants in Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and Marine Engineering, five-year courses in Integrated Maritime Studies, Bridging Program for Marine Engineering, plus postgraduate courses for veteran seafarer officers.
Its quiet, well-manicured grounds by the sea have become home to generations of well-disciplined, high-flying cadets.
With over 4000 graduates to date, the MAAP family is steadily growing. Each year it accepts qualified applicants selected through rigorous and competitive entrance requirements staged nationwide. All MAAP cadets are scholars assured of employment aboard international commercial vessels through predetermined arrangements with an impressive list of donors and sponsors.
MAAP is run by a wide array of partners including AMOSUP, the Danish Shipowners Association, Norwegian Shipowners Association, Japanese Shipowners Association (JSA), All Japan Seamens’ Union (AJSU), International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), International Maritime Employees’ Committee, Filipino Association of Marines’ Employment (FAME) and various private institutions.
“There are many maritime schools, but only one MAAP,” explains MAAP academic dean Daniel Torres Jr., a laureled captain and engineer. “We’re supplying a crucial need since Filipinos comprise the largest group of seafarers on Earth. Did you know that one in three seafarers is Pinoy? Producing an average of 200 deck officers and 200 marine engineers yearly, our goal is to be the go-to institution for commercial fleets when they need junior officers to man their vessels.”
State-of-the-art Facilities, Centers for Higher Learning
MAAP boasts of state-of the-art facilities at par with STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers) and is accredited by the Commission of Higher Education (CHED). Training simulators include the TRANSAS & JRC ECDIS Simulator, Integrated Bridge System (Mock Bridge) Simulator, Engine Room Simulator and LNG Simulator. Its laboratories include a GMDSS Lab, Pneumatic and Hydraulics Lab, Automation Lab, Electromechanical System Lab, Refrigeration and Airconditioning Lab and an Electrotech Lab.
“We’re building more classrooms to cap the number of students per class at 20, ensuring more personal instruction. Each classroom will also feature a Smart TV connected to the web. Starting next year, our cadets will have tablets to help them learn faster digitally. We’re also working on various web-based assessments and tracking systems so parents can see their kid’s performance in near real-time and offer help and moral support as needed,” adds Capt. Torres.
To give their cadets proper training at sea, MAAP has two active vessels, including the 115-meter long, 5028 gross-ton M/V Kapitan Felix Oca, named after the father of the school’s founder. It can host up to 180 midshipmen and nine instructors.
Commissioned in 2019, the M/V Kapitan Gregorio Oca was named after the school’s founder. The smaller but newer ship measures 78.9-meters, displaces 1750 gross-tons and carries a complement of 138 seafarers – 30 officers, instructors and crewmen plus 108 second-class midshipmen, all third year students at the academy who have a year to learn the ropes of actual seamanship.
Through the leadership of Dr. Conrado Oca, MAAP also launched the Center for Advanced Maritime Studies (CAMS), which offers high-level educational programs and courses aimed to raise the professional and academic qualifications of Pinoy merchant marine officers and prepare them to become effective ship superintendents, managers or academic supervisors onshore. CAMS offers two post-graduate programs: Master of Science in Marine Transportation for prospective marine superintendents and Master of Science in Marine Engineering for prospective technical superintendents.
CAMS further conducts research to solve real-life problems and issues facing our seafarers, while developing new technologies and processes to meet the challenges of the future and take sailing to the next level.
To ensure that students get global exposure and the benefit of various instructional approaches, CAMS has a visiting professor program with esteemed foreign lecturers who impart international knowledge and experience to MAAP students.
With decades of experience in training cadets to be top-class sailors, MAAP stands poised to become a paragon of excellence for the seafaring community. “When we’ve built a rock-solid reputation as the source of the best merchant marine officers in the Philippines, when commercial fleets continuously snap up our graduates before they even leave our walls, then we know we will have achieved the dream of our founder, Kapitan Gregorio Oca,” concludes Torres.
MAAP’s Center for Advanced Maritime Studies (CAMS) offers post-graduate courses to train prospective marine and technical superintendents for sea and land-based postings. (MAAP)
MAAP second-class midshipmen or third-year students carefully study their navigational charts aboard the M/V Kapitan Gregorio Oca, one of the academy’s two active training vessels. (Gregg Yan / Seafarer Asia)
The M/V Kapitan Gregorio Oca is MAAP’s newest training vessel. It carries a full complement of 138 seafarers – 30 officers, instructors and crewmen plus 108 second-class midshipmen. (Gregg Yan / Seafarer Asia)
MAAP’s 2019 fleet commander Victor Ogena sternly leads the academy’s cadets. (Gregg Yan / Seafarer Asia)
MAAP has been producing elite seafarer officers since its establishment in 1998 and is poised to become one of the top seafaring academies in Asia. (Gregg Yan / Seafarer Asia)
Source: Yann,G. (2019, June) MAAP: Training Tomorrow’s Elite Seafarers. Seafarer Asia. https://www.seafarerasia.net/2019/06/maap-training-tomorrows-elite-seafarers/
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