Maritime Labour Convention, 2006
Frequently Asked Questions:
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What is the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006?
It is an important new international labour Convention that was adopted by the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO), under article 19 of its Constitution at a maritime session in February 2006 in Geneva, Switzerland. It sets out seafarers’ rights to decent conditions of work and helps to create conditions of fair competition for shipowners. It is intended to be globally applicable, easily understandable, readily updatable and uniformly enforced. The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 has been designed to become a global legal instrument that, once it enters into force, will be the the “fourth pillar” of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) such as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS), the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, 1978, as amended (STCW) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 73/78 (MARPOL).
Why is it also sometimes called the consolidated Maritime Labour Convention, 2006?
The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 contains a comprehensive set of global standards, based on those that are already found in 68 maritime labour instruments (Conventions and Recommendations), adopted by the ILO since 1920. The new Convention brings almost all of the existing maritime labour instruments together in a single new Convention that uses a new format with some updating, where necessary, to reflect modern conditions and language. The Convention “consolidates” the existing international law on all these matters. The Conventions addressing the seafarers’ identity documents were recently revised in 2003 (Convention Nos. 108 and 185) and are not included in the new Convention. In addition, the Seafarers’ Pension Convention, 1946 (No. 71) and one Convention (The Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921 (No. 15)), which is no longer relevant to the sector, are not consolidated by the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
When will the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 come into force and what will happen to the existing Conventions?
The Convention will enter into force:
“…12 months after the date on which there have been registered ratifications by at least 30 Members with a total share in the world gross tonnage of ships of 33 per cent."
This is a much higher than the usual ratification level (for ILO Conventions) and it uses a new formula that is intended to assure greater actual impact of the Convention. It reflects the fact that the enforcement and compliance system established under the Convention needs widespread international cooperation in order to be effective. Since many of the obligations under the Convention are directed to shipowners and flag States it is important that ILO Members with a strong maritme interest and a high level of tonnage operating under their legal jurisdiction ratify the Convention.
The existing ILO maritime labour Conventions will be gradually phased out as ILO Member States that have ratified those Conventions ratify the new Convention, but there will be a transitional period when some parallel Conventions will be in force. Countries that ratify the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 will no longer be bound by the existing Conventions when the new Convention comes into force for them. Countries that do not ratify the new Convention will remain bound by the existing Conventions they have ratified, but those Conventions will be closed to further ratification.
Why was a new Convention needed?
The decision by the ILO to move forward to create this major new maritime labour Convention was the result of a joint resolution in 2001 by the international seafarers’ and shipowners’ organizations, later supported by governments. They pointed out that the shipping industry is “the world’s first genuinely global industry” which “requires an international regulatory response of an appropriate kind – global standards applicable to the entire industry”. The industry called on the ILO to develop “an instrument which brings together into a consolidated text as much of the existing body of ILO instruments as it proves possible to achieve” as a matter of priority “in order to improve the relevance of those standards to the needs of all the stakeholders of the maritime sector”. It was felt that the very large number of the existing maritime Conventions, many of which are very detailed, made it difficult for governments to ratify and to enforce all of the standards. Many of the standards were out of date and did not reflect contemporary working and living conditions on board ships. In addition, there was a need to develop a more effective enforcement and compliance system that would help to eliminate substandard ships and that would work within the well-established international system for enforcement of the international standards for ship safety and security and environmental protection that have been adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Does the new Convention deal with any new subjects?
The Convention is organized into three main parts: the Articles coming first set out the broad principles and obligations.
This is followed by the more detailed Regulations and Code (with two parts: Parts A and B) provisions.
The Regulations and the Standards (Part A) and Guidelines (Part B) in the Code are integrated and organized into general areas of concern under five Titles:
Title 1: Minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship.
Title 2: Conditions of employment.
Title 3: Accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering.
Title 4: Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection.
Title 5: Compliance and enforcement.
These five Titles essentially cover the same subject matter as the existing 68 maritime labour instruments, updating them where necessary.
It occasionally contains new subjects, particularly in the area of occupational safety and health to meet current health concerns, such as the effects of noise and vibration on workers or other workplace risks.
The provisions relating to flag State inspections, the use of “recognized organizations” and the potential for inspections in foreign ports (port State control) in Title 5 are based on existing maritime labour Conventions; however, the new Convention builds upon them to develop a more effective approach to these important issues, consistent with other international maritime Conventions that establish standards for quality shipping with respect to issues such as ship safety and security and protection of the marine environment.
Why do we need effective international standards for seafarers’ conditions of work?
In ships flying the flags of countries that do not exercise effective jurisdiction and control over them, as required by international law, seafarers often have to work under unacceptable conditions, to the detriment of their well-being, health and safety and the safety of the ships on which they work.
Since seafarers’ working lives are spent outside the home country and their employers are also often not based in their country, effective international standards are necessary for this sector.
Of course these standards must also be implemented at a national level, particularly by governments that have a ship registry and authorize ships to fly their countries’ flags.
This is already well recognized in connection with ensuring the safety and security of ships and protecting the marine environment.
It is also important to understand that there are many flag States and shipowners that take pride in providing the seafarers on their ships with decent conditions of work.
These countries and shipowners face unfair competition in that they pay the price of being undercut by shipowners which operate substandard ships.
Are the standards in the new Convention lower than existing maritime labour standards?
No, the aim is to maintain the standards in the current maritime labour Conventions at their present level, while leaving each country greater discretion in the formulation of their national laws establishing that level of protection.
How will the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 protect more of the world’s seafarers?
The Convention aims to achieve worldwide protection for all seafarers. It seeks to meet this goal in a number of ways. It is estimated that there are over 1.2 million people working at sea in the world. Until now it had not been clear that all of these people, particularly for example, those that work on board ships but are not directly involved in navigating or operating the ship, such as many personnel that work on passenger ships, would be considered seafarers. The new Convention clearly defines a seafarer as any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship that is covered by the Convention. Except for a few specific exclusions and areas where flexibility is provided for national authorities to exempt smaller ships (200 gross tonnage and below) that do not go on international voyages from some aspects of the Convention, the Convention applies to all ships (and to the seafarers on those ships) whether publicly or privately owned that are ordinarily engaged in commercial activities.
The Convention does not apply to:
• Ships which navigate exclusively in inland waters or waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply;
• Ships engaged in fishing;
• Ships of traditional build such as dhows and junks;
• Warships or naval auxiliaries.
Many existing maritime labour Conventions have a low ratification level. The new Convention has been designed specifically to address this problem. More protection of seafarers will be achieved by the early ratification and national-level implementation of the new Convention by the vast majority of ILO nations active in the maritime sector, as is the case of the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO): SOLAS, STCW and MARPOL.
How does the new Convention make it easier for countries to ratify it and to implement its requirements?
Both the Constitution of the ILO and many ILO instruments seek to take account of national circumstances and provide for some flexibility in application of Conventions, with a view to gradually improving protection of workers, by taking into account the specific situation in some sectors and the diversity of national circumstances. Flexibility is usually based on principles of tripartism, transparency and accountability. When flexibility with respect to a Convention is exercised by a government it usually involves consultation with the workers’ and employers’ organizations concerned, with any determinations that are made reported to the ILO by the government concerned. This is seen as a necessary and important approach to ensuring that all countries, irrespective of national circumstances, can engage with the international legal system and that international obligations are respected and implemented, to the extent possible, while also making efforts to improve conditions. This is particularly important for an international industry such as shipping.
The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 generally follows this approach as well as also providing for additional flexibility, relevant to the sector, at a national level. The Convention seeks to be “firm on rights and flexible on implementation”. A major obstacle to the ratification of existing maritime labour Conventions is the excessive detail in many of them. The new Convention sets out the basic rights of seafarers to decent work in firm statements, but leaves a large measure of flexibility to ratifying countries as to how they will implement these standards for decent work in their national laws.
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