A call to include seafarers' training in the newly created International Bargaining Forum (IBF) has been forwarded to both ship owners and unions.

Joint Negotiating Group chairman Nobuo Kayahara, told the delegates at the Fifth Asia Pacific Manning & Training Conference in Manila, that one of the important functions of the Forum is to "concentrate on the training side, and not just on financial issues."

The group, whose members employ nearly 40,000 seafarers on 2,000 vessels covered by ITF agreements, is a combination of the Europe's International Maritime Employers' Committee and the International Mariners' Management Association of Japan.

Kayahara stressed that improvement in seamen's education and skills benefit not only the seafarers themselves, but also owners, operators and managers on whose ships they serve.

He cited the successful joint projects run world-wide between employers and unions such as the Isle of Man-based International Maritime Training Trust and the training schools in the Philippines and China.