THE largest seafarer's union in the country, along with other maritime stakeholders, has welcomed the recent move by President Rodrigo Duterte to reform the government body responsible for the ratification of international maritime conventions.

Executive Order 159 reconstitutes the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on the Ratification and Implementation of Maritime Conventions (ICCRIMC) and renamed it as the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee to Facilitate the Ratification and Accession to and Implementation of Maritime Conventions (ICCFRAIMC).