Forty-eight years across
the world’s oceans
From cadet watchkeeper to Chief Mariner command on ocean-going vessels, connected with Baliwag Navigation, Inc. and MMSL Japan, Ltd. — every rank at sea carries its own responsibilities and lessons.
The climb from cadet to command
A career built rank by rank — each stage earned through sea time, competence assessments, and the kind of operational experience that no shortcut can replace.
Command of Ocean-Going Vessels
The highest rank in the deck department — responsible for the overall command of the vessel, the safety of crew and cargo, navigation decisions, regulatory compliance, and the operational relationship with the shipowner, charterer, and port authorities. For ocean-going vessels, this means command across international waters, multiple jurisdictions, and the full range of maritime conditions.
Capt. Labaguis currently holds this rank while simultaneously serving as Training Instructor for MMSL Japan, Ltd. — a dual role that places him at the operational and instructional frontlines of Filipino maritime workforce development.
Second-in-Command, Deck Department
The Chief Officer is the head of the deck department under the Master — directly responsible for cargo operations, deck crew management, safety equipment inspections, watchkeeping schedules, and the daily discipline of the deck team. This is the rank where an officer learns to manage people and cargo simultaneously, under time pressure and regulatory scrutiny.
For seafarers connected with manning agencies like Baliwag Navigation, Inc., the Chief Officer rank is the proving ground — the stage where foreign principals evaluate whether an officer is ready for command.
Navigation Officer — Passage Planning & Charts
The Second Officer is the vessel’s navigation specialist — responsible for passage planning, chart corrections, nautical publications, bridge equipment maintenance, and the preparation of navigation plans for every leg of the voyage. This rank demands precision: a missed chart correction or a poorly planned route has consequences measured in hull damage, grounding, or worse.
The transition from paper charts and manual plotting to ECDIS and electronic navigation happened during the careers of officers in this generation — making their range of navigational competence wider than most.
Watchkeeping Officer — Building the Foundation
The Third Officer’s world is the bridge watch — standing lookout, maintaining situational awareness, executing helm orders, and learning the rhythm of traffic separation schemes, port approaches, and open-ocean passages. It is also the first rank where a young officer is directly responsible for safety equipment: lifeboats, fire extinguishers, LSA and FFA inventories.
For Filipino seafarers entering the global fleet through manning agencies, the Third Officer contract is often the first international posting — the first time navigating unfamiliar ports, foreign regulations, and multinational bridge teams.
The First Watch
Every career at sea starts with learning to follow orders before learning to give them. The cadet stage is where deck fundamentals are built — line handling, mooring operations, cargo watch, chart reading under supervision, and the daily maintenance routines that keep a vessel seaworthy.
Starting in the late 1970s, this was a pre-digital era — radar was the primary electronic aid, and celestial navigation was still a required skill. The foundation built during those cadet voyages carried through four and a half decades of maritime change.