MLC-2006
Maritime Labour Convention, 2006
TITLE 1. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR SEAFARERS TO WORK ON A SHIP
Regulation 1.1 – Minimum age
Purpose: To ensure that no under-age persons work on a ship
1. No person below the minimum age shall be employed or engaged or work on a ship.
2. The minimum age at the time of the initial entry into force of this Convention is 16 years.
3. A higher minimum age shall be required in the circumstances set out in the Code.
Regulation 1.2 – Medical certificate
Purpose: To ensure that all seafarers are medically fit to perform their duties at sea
1. Seafarers shall not work on a ship unless they are certified as medically fit to perform their duties.
2. Exceptions can only be permitted as prescribed in the Code.
Regulation 1.3 – Training and qualifications Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are trained or qualified to carry out their duties on board ship 1. Seafarers shall not work on a ship unless they are trained or certified as competent or otherwise qualified to perform their duties. 2. Seafarers shall not be permitted to work on a ship unless they have successfully completed training for personal safety on board ship. 3. Training and certification in accordance with the mandatory instruments adopted by the International Maritime Organization shall be considered as meeting the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Regulation. 4. Any Member which, at the time of its ratification of this Convention, was bound by the Certification of Able Seamen Convention, 1946 (No. 74), shall continue to carry out the obligations under that Convention unless and until mandatory provisions covering its subject matter have been adopted by the International Maritime Organization and entered into force, or until five years have elapsed since the entry into force of this Convention in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article VIII, whichever date is earlier. 20 Maritime Labour Convention, 2006
Regulation 1.4 – Recruitment and placement Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have access to an efficient and well-regulated seafarer recruitment and placement system 1. All seafarers shall have access to an efficient, adequate and accountable system for finding employment on board ship without charge to the seafarer. 2. Seafarer recruitment and placement services operating in a Member’s territory shall conform to the standards set out in the Code. 3. Each Member shall require, in respect of seafarers who work on ships that fly its flag, that shipowners who use seafarer recruitment and placement services that are based in countries or territories in which this Convention does not apply, ensure that those services conform to the requirements set out in the Code.
TITLE 2. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
Regulation 2.1 – Seafarers’ employment agreements
Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have a fair employment agreement 1. The terms and conditions for employment of a seafarer shall be set out or referred to in a clear written legally enforceable agreement and shall be consistent with the standards set out in the Code. 2. Seafarers’ employment agreements shall be agreed to by the seafarer under conditions which ensure that the seafarer has an opportunity to review and seek advice on the terms and conditions in the agreement and freely accepts them before signing. 3. To the extent compatible with the Member’s national law and practice, seafarers’ employment agreements shall be understood to incorporate any applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Regulation 2.2 – Wages
Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are paid for their services
1. All seafarers shall be paid for their work regularly and in full in accordance with their employment agreements.
Regulation 2.3 – Hours of work and hours of rest
Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have regulated hours of work or hours of rest 1. Each Member shall ensure that the hours of work or hours of rest for seafarers are regulated.
2. Each Member shall establish maximum hours of work or minimum hours of rest over given periods that are consistent with the provisions in the Code.
(a) hours of work means time during which seafarers are required to do work on account of the ship;
(b) hours of rest means time outside hours of work; this term does not include short breaks.
2. Each Member shall within the limits set out in paragraphs 5 to 8 of this Standard fix either a maximum number of hours of work which shall not be exceeded in a given period of time, or a minimum number of hours of rest which shall be provided in a given period of time.
3. Each Member acknowledges that the normal working hours’ standard for seafarers, like that for other workers, shall be based on an eight-hour day with one day of rest per week and rest on public holidays. However, this shall not prevent the Member from having procedures to authorize or register a collective agreement which determines seafarers’ normal working hours on a basis no less favourable than this standard.
4. In determining the national standards, each Member shall take account of the danger posed by the fatigue of seafarers, especially those whose duties involve navigational safety and the safe and secure operation of the ship.
5. The limits on hours of work or rest shall be as follows:
(a) maximum hours of work shall not exceed:
(i) 14 hours in any 24-hour period; and
(ii) 72 hours in any seven-day period; or
(b) minimum hours of rest shall not be less than:
(i) ten hours in any 24-hour period; and
(ii) 77 hours in any seven-day period.
6. Hours of rest may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which shall be at least six hours in length, and the interval between consecutive periods of rest shall not exceed 14 hours.
7. Musters, fire-fighting and lifeboat drills, and drills prescribed by national laws and regulations and by international instruments, shall be conducted in a manner that minimizes the disturbance of rest periods and does not induce fatigue.
8. When a seafarer is on call, such as when a machinery space is unattended, the seafarer shall have an adequate compensatory rest period if the normal period of rest is disturbed by call-outs to work.
9. If no collective agreement or arbitration award exists or if the competent authority determines that the provisions in the agreement or award in respect of paragraph 7 or 8 of this Standard are inadequate, the competent authority shall determine such provisions to ensure the seafarers concerned have sufficient rest.
10. Each Member shall require the posting, in an easily accessible place, of a table with the shipboard working arrangements, which shall contain for every position at least:
(a) the schedule of service at sea and service in port; and
(b) the maximum hours of work or the minimum hours of rest required by national laws or regulations or applicable collective agreements.
11. The table referred to in paragraph 10 of this Standard shall be established in a standardized format in the working language or languages of the ship and in English.
12. Each Member shall require that records of seafarers’ daily hours of work or of their daily hours of rest be maintained to allow monitoring of compliance with paragraphs 5 to 11 inclusive of this Standard. The records shall be in a standardized format established by the competent authority taking into account any available guidelines of the International Labour Organization or shall be in any standard format prepared by the Organization. They shall be in the languages required by paragraph 11 of this Standard. The seafarers shall receive a copy of the records pertaining to them which shall be endorsed by the master, or a person authorized by the master, and by the seafarers.
13. Nothing in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this Standard shall prevent a Member from having national laws or regulations or a procedure for the competent authority to authorize or register collective agreements permitting exceptions to the limits set out. Such exceptions shall, as far as possible, follow the provisions of this Standard but may take account of more frequent or longer leave periods or the granting of compensatory leave for watchkeeping seafarers or seafarers working on board ships on short voyages.
14. Nothing in this Standard shall be deemed to impair the right of the master of a ship to require a seafarer to perform any hours of work necessary for the immediate safety of the ship, persons on board or cargo, or for the purpose of giving assistance to other ships or persons in distress at sea. Accordingly, the master may suspend the schedule of hours of work or hours of rest and require a seafarer to perform any hours of work necessary until the normal situation has been restored. As soon as practicable after the normal situation has been restored, the master shall ensure that any seafarers who have performed work in a scheduled rest period are provided with an adequate period of rest.
Young seafarers
1. At sea and in port the following provisions should apply to all young seafarers under the age of 18:
(a) working hours should not exceed eight hours per day and 40 hours per week and overtime should be worked only where unavoidable for safety reasons;
(b) sufficient time should be allowed for all meals, and a break of at least one hour for the main meal of the day should be assured; and
(c) a 15-minute rest period as soon as possible following each two hours of continuous work should be allowed.
2. Exceptionally, the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Guideline need not be applied if:
(a) they are impracticable for young seafarers in the deck, engine room and catering departments assigned to watchkeeping duties or working on a rostered shiftwork system; or (b) the effective training of young seafarers in accordance with established programmes and schedules would be impaired.
3. Such exceptional situations should be recorded, with reasons, and signed by the master. 33 Conditions of employment 4. Paragraph 1 of this Guideline does not exempt young seafarers from the general obligation on all seafarers to work during any emergency as provided for in Standard A2.3, paragraph 14.
Regulation 2.4 – Entitlement to leave
Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have adequate leave 1. Each Member shall require that seafarers employed on ships that fly its flag are given paid annual leave under appropriate conditions, in accordance with the provisions in the Code. 2. Seafarers shall be granted shore leave to benefit their health and well-being and with the operational requirements of their positions.
Young seafarers 1. Special measures should be considered with respect to young seafarers under the age of 18 who have served six months or any other shorter period of time under a collective agreement or seafarers’ employment agreement without leave on a foreign-going ship which has not returned to their country of residence in that time, and will not return in the subsequent three months of the voyage. Such measures could consist of their repatriation at no expense to themselves to the place of original engagement in their country of residence for the purpose of taking any leave earned during the voyage.
Regulation 2.5 – Repatriation Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are able to return home 1. Seafarers have a right to be repatriated at no cost to themselves in the circumstances and under the conditions specified in the Code. 2. Each Member shall require ships that fly its flag to provide financial security to ensure that seafarers are duly repatriated in accordance with the Code.
Regulation 2.6 – Seafarer compensation for the ship’s loss or foundering Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are compensated when a ship is lost or has foundered 1. Seafarers are entitled to adequate compensation in the case of injury, loss or unemployment arising from the ship’s loss or foundering.
Regulation 2.7 – Manning levels Purpose: To ensure that seafarers work on board ships with sufficient personnel for the safe, efficient and secure operation of the ship 1. Each Member shall require that all ships that fly its flag have a sufficient number of seafarers employed on board to ensure that ships are operated safely, effi- 39 Conditions of employment ciently and with due regard to security under all conditions, taking into account concerns about seafarer fatigue and the particular nature and conditions of the voyage.
Regulation 2.8 – Career and skill development and opportunities for seafarers’ employment Purpose: To promote career and skill development and employment opportunities for seafarers 1. Each Member shall have national policies to promote employment in the maritime sector and to encourage career and skill development and greater employment opportunities for seafarers domiciled in its territory.
TITLE 3. ACCOMMODATION, RECREATIONAL FACILITIES, FOOD AND CATERING Accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering Regulation 3.1 – Accommodation and recreational facilities Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have decent accommodation and recreational facilities on board 1. Each Member shall ensure that ships that fly its flag provide and maintain decent accommodations and recreational facilities for seafarers working or living on board, or both, consistent with promoting the seafarers’ health and well-being. 2. The requirements in the Code implementing this Regulation which relate to ship construction and equipment apply only to ships constructed on or after the date when this Convention comes into force for the Member concerned. For ships constructed before that date, the requirements relating to ship construction and equipment that are set out in the Accommodation of Crews Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 92), and the Accommodation of Crews (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1970 (No. 133), shall continue to apply to the extent that they were applicable, prior to that date, under the law or practice of the Member concerned. A ship shall be deemed to have been constructed on the date when its keel is laid or when it is at a similar stage of con truction. 3. Unless expressly provided otherwise, any requirement under an amendment to the Code relating to the provision of seafarer accommodation and recreational facilities shall apply only to ships constructed on or after the amendment takes effect for the Member concerned.
Regulation 3.2 – Food and catering Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have access to good quality food and drinking water provided under regulated hygienic conditions 1. Each Member shall ensure that ships that fly its flag carry on board and serve food and drinking water of appropriate quality, nutritional value and quantity that 52 Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 adequately covers the requirements of the ship and takes into account the differing cultural and religious backgrounds. 2. Seafarers on board a ship shall be provided with food free of charge during the period of engagement. 3. Seafarers employed as ships’ cooks with responsibility for food preparation must be trained and qualified for their position on board ship.
TITLE 4. HEALTH PROTECTION, MEDICAL CARE, WELFARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY PROTECTION
Regulation 4.1 – Medical care on board ship and ashore Purpose: To protect the health of seafarers and ensure their prompt access to medical care on board ship and ashore 1. Each Member shall ensure that all seafarers on ships that fly its flag are covered by adequate measures for the protection of their health and that they have access to prompt and adequate medical care whilst working on board. 2. The protection and care under paragraph 1 of this Regulation shall, in principle, be provided at no cost to the seafarers. 3. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on board ships in its territory who are in need of immediate medical care are given access to the Member’s medical facilities on shore. 4. The requirements for on-board health protection and medical care set out in the Code include standards for measures aimed at providing seafarers with health protection and medical care as comparable as possible to that which is generally available to workers ashore.
Regulation 4.2 – Shipowners’ liability Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are protected from the financial consequences of sickness, injury or death occurring in connection with their employment 1. Each Member shall ensure that measures, in accordance with the Code, are in place on ships that fly its flag to provide seafarers employed on the ships with a right to material assistance and support from the shipowner with respect to the financial consequences of sickness, injury or death occurring while they are serving under a seafarers’ employment agreement or arising from their employment under such agreement. 2. This Regulation does not affect any other legal remedies that a seafarer may seek.
Regulation 4.3 – Health and safety protection and accident prevention Purpose: To ensure that seafarers’ work environment on board ships promotes occupational safety and health 1. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on ships that fly its flag are provided with occupational health protection and live, work and train on board ship in a safe and hygienic environment. 2. Each Member shall develop and promulgate national guidelines for the management of occupational safety and health on board ships that fly its flag, after consultation with representative shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations and taking into account applicable codes, guidelines and standards recommended by international organizations, national administrations and maritime industry organizations. 3. Each Member shall adopt laws and regulations and other measures addressing the matters specified in the Code, taking into account relevant international instruments, and set standards for occupational safety and health protection and accident prevention on ships that fly its flag.
Regulation 4.4 – Access to shore-based welfare facilities Purpose: To ensure that seafarers working on board a ship have access to shore-based facilities and services to secure their health and well-being 1. Each Member shall ensure that shore-based welfare facilities, where they exist, are easily accessible. The Member shall also promote the development of welfare facilities, such as those listed in the Code, in designated ports to provide seafarers on ships that are in its ports with access to adequate welfare facilities and services. 2. The responsibilities of each Member with respect to shore-based facilities, such as welfare, cultural, recreational and information facilities and services, are set out in the Code.
Regulation 4.5 – Social security Purpose: To ensure that measures are taken with a view to providing seafarers with access to social security protection 1. Each Member shall ensure that all seafarers and, to the extent provided for in its national law, their dependants have access to social security protection in accordance with the Code without prejudice however to any more favourable conditions referred to in paragraph 8 of article 19 of the Constitution. 71 Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection 2. Each Member undertakes to take steps, according to its national circumstances, individually and through international cooperation, to achieve progressively comprehensive social security protection for seafarers. 3. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers who are subject to its social security legislation, and, to the extent provided for in its national law, their dependants, are entitled to benefit from social security protection no less favourable than that enjoyed by shoreworkers.
TITLE 5. COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
1. The Regulations in this Title specify each Member’s responsibility to fully implement and enforce the principles and rights set out in the Articles of this Convention as well as the particular obligations provided for under its Titles 1, 2, 3 and 4.
2. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article VI, which permit the implementation of Part A of the Code through substantially equivalent provisions, do not apply to Part A of the Code in this Title.
3. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article VI, each Member shall implement its responsibilities under the Regulations in the manner set out in the corresponding Standards of Part A of the Code, giving due consideration to the corresponding Guidelines in Part B of the Code.
4. The provisions of this Title shall be implemented bearing in mind that seafarers and shipowners, like all other persons, are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law and shall not be subject to discrimination in their access to courts, tribunals or other dispute resolution mechanisms. The provisions of this Title do not determine legal jurisdiction or a legal venue.
Regulation 5.1 – Flag State responsibilities Purpose: To ensure that each Member implements its responsibilities under this Convention with respect to ships that fly its flag Regulation 5.1.1 – General principles 1. Each Member is responsible for ensuring implementation of its obligations under this Convention on ships that fly its flag. 2. Each Member shall establish an effective system for the inspection and certification of maritime labour conditions, in accordance with Regulations 5.1.3 and 5.1.4 ensuring that the working and living conditions for seafarers on ships that fly its flag meet, and continue to meet, the standards in this Convention. 3. In establishing an effective system for the inspection and certification of maritime labour conditions, a Member may, where appropriate, authorize public institutions or other organizations (including those of another Member, if the latter agrees) which it recognizes as competent and independent to carry out inspections or to issue certificates or to do both. In all cases, the Member shall remain fully responsible for the inspection and certification of the working and living conditions of the seafarers concerned on ships that fly its flag. 4. A maritime labour certificate, complemented by a declaration of maritime labour compliance, shall constitute prima facie evidence that the ship has been duly inspected by the Member whose flag it flies and that the requirements of this Convention 74 Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 relating to working and living conditions of the seafarers have been met to the extent so certified. 5. Information about the system referred to in paragraph 2 of this Regulation, including the method used for assessing its effectiveness, shall be included in the Member’s reports to the International Labour Office pursuant to article 22 of the Constitution.
Regulation 5.1.2 – Authorization of recognized organizations 1. The public institutions or other organizations referred to in paragraph 3 of Regulation 5.1.1 (“recognized organizations”) shall have been recognized by the competent authority as meeting the requirements in the Code regarding competency and independence. The inspection or certification functions which the recognized organizations may be authorized to carry out shall come within the scope of the activities that are expressly mentioned in the Code as being carried out by the competent authority or a recognized organization. 2. The reports referred to in paragraph 5 of Regulation 5.1.1 shall contain information regarding any recognized organization, the extent of authorizations given and the arrangements made by the Member to ensure that the authorized activities are carried out completely and effectively.
Regulation 5.1.3 – Maritime labour certificate and declaration of maritime labour compliance 1. This Regulation applies to ships of: (a) 500 gross tonnage or over, engaged in international voyages; and (b) 500 gross tonnage or over, flying the flag of a Member and operating from a port, or between ports, in another country. For the purpose of this Regulation, “international voyage” means a voyage from a country to a port outside such a country. 2. This Regulation also applies to any ship that flies the flag of a Member and is not covered by paragraph 1 of this Regulation, at the request of the shipowner to the Member concerned. 3. Each Member shall require ships that fly its flag to carry and maintain a maritime labour certificate certifying that the working and living conditions of seafarers on the ship, including measures for ongoing compliance to be included in the declaration of maritime labour compliance referred to in paragraph 4 of this Regulation, have been inspected and meet the requirements of national laws or regulations or other measures implementing this Convention. 4. Each Member shall require ships that fly its flag to carry and maintain a declaration of maritime labour compliance stating the national requirements implementing this Convention for the working and living conditions for seafarers and setting out the measures adopted by the shipowner to ensure compliance with the requirements on the ship or ships concerned. 5. The maritime labour certificate and the declaration of maritime labour compliance shall conform to the model prescribed by the Code. 6. Where the competent authority of the Member or a recognized organization duly authorized for this purpose has ascertained through inspection that a ship that flies the Member’s flag meets or continues to meet the standards of this Convention, it shall issue or renew a maritime labour certificate to that effect and maintain a publicly available record of that certificate. 7. Detailed requirements for the maritime labour certificate and the declaration of maritime labour compliance, including a list of the matters that must be inspected and approved, are set out in Part A of the Code.
Regulation 5.1.4 – Inspection and enforcement 1. Each Member shall verify, through an effective and coordinated system of regular inspections, monitoring and other control measures, that ships that fly its flag comply with the requirements of this Convention as implemented in national laws and regulations. 2. Detailed requirements regarding the inspection and enforcement system referred to in paragraph 1 of this Regulation are set out in Part A of the Code.
Regulation 5.1.5 – On-board complaint procedures 1. Each Member shall require that ships that fly its flag have on-board procedures for the fair, effective and expeditious handling of seafarer complaints alleging breaches of the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights). 2. Each Member shall prohibit and penalize any kind of victimization of a seafarer for filing a complaint. 3. The provisions in this Regulation and related sections of the Code are without prejudice to a seafarer’s right to seek redress through whatever legal means the seafarer considers appropriate.
Regulation 5.1.6 – Marine casualties 1. Each Member shall hold an official inquiry into any serious marine casualty, leading to injury or loss of life, that involves a ship that flies its flag. The final report of an inquiry shall normally be made public. 2. Members shall cooperate with each other to facilitate the investigation of serious marine casualties referred to in paragraph 1 of this Regulation.
Regulation 5.2 – Port State responsibilities Purpose: To enable each Member to implement its responsibilities under this Convention regarding international cooperation in the implementation and enforcement of the Convention standards on foreign ships
Regulation 5.2.1 – Inspections in port 1. Every foreign ship calling, in the normal course of its business or for operational reasons, in the port of a Member may be the subject of inspection in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article V for the purpose of reviewing compliance with the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights) relating to the working and living conditions of seafarers on the ship. 2. Each Member shall accept the maritime labour certificate and the declaration of maritime labour compliance required under Regulation 5.1.3 as prima facie evidence of compliance with the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights). Accordingly, the inspection in its ports shall, except in the circumstances specified in the Code, be limited to a review of the certificate and declaration. 3. Inspections in a port shall be carried out by authorized officers in accordance with the provisions of the Code and other applicable international arrangements governing port State control inspections in the Member. Any such inspection shall be limited to verifying that the matter inspected is in conformity with the relevant requirements set out in the Articles and Regulations of this Convention and in Part A only of the Code. 4. Inspections that may be carried out in accordance with this Regulation shall be based on an effective port State inspection and monitoring system to help ensure that the working and living conditions for seafarers on ships entering a port of the Member concerned meet the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights). 5. Information about the system referred to in paragraph 4 of this Regulation, including the method used for assessing its effectiveness, shall be included in the Member’s reports pursuant to article 22 of the Constitution.
Regulation 5.2.2 – Onshore seafarer complaint-handling procedures 1. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on ships calling at a port in the Member’s territory who allege a breach of the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights) have the right to report such a complaint in order to facilitate a prompt and practical means of redress.
Regulation 5.3 – Labour-supplying responsibilities Purpose: To ensure that each Member implements its responsibilities under this Convention as pertaining to seafarer recruitment and placement and the social protection of its seafarers 1. Without prejudice to the principle of each Member’s responsibility for the working and living conditions of seafarers on ships that fly its flag, the Member also has a responsibility to ensure the implementation of the requirements of this Convention regarding the recruitment and placement of seafarers as well as the social security protection of seafarers that are its nationals or are resident or are otherwise domiciled in its territory, to the extent that such responsibility is provided for in this Convention. 2. Detailed requirements for the implementation of paragraph 1 of this Regulation are found in the Code. 3. Each Member shall establish an effective inspection and monitoring system for enforcing its labour-supplying responsibilities under this Convention. 4. Information about the system referred to in paragraph 3 of this Regulation, including the method used for assessing its effectiveness, shall be included in the Member’s reports pursuant to article 22 of the Constitution.
Regulation 2.5 – Repatriation Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are able to return home 1. Seafarers have a right to be repatriated at no cost to themselves in the circumstances and under the conditions specified in the Code. 2. Each Member shall require ships that fly its flag to provide financial security to ensure that seafarers are duly repatriated in accordance with the Code.
Regulation 2.6 – Seafarer compensation for the ship’s loss or foundering Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are compensated when a ship is lost or has foundered 1. Seafarers are entitled to adequate compensation in the case of injury, loss or unemployment arising from the ship’s loss or foundering.
Regulation 2.7 – Manning levels Purpose: To ensure that seafarers work on board ships with sufficient personnel for the safe, efficient and secure operation of the ship 1. Each Member shall require that all ships that fly its flag have a sufficient number of seafarers employed on board to ensure that ships are operated safely, effi- 39 Conditions of employment ciently and with due regard to security under all conditions, taking into account concerns about seafarer fatigue and the particular nature and conditions of the voyage.
Regulation 2.8 – Career and skill development and opportunities for seafarers’ employment Purpose: To promote career and skill development and employment opportunities for seafarers 1. Each Member shall have national policies to promote employment in the maritime sector and to encourage career and skill development and greater employment opportunities for seafarers domiciled in its territory.
TITLE 3. ACCOMMODATION, RECREATIONAL FACILITIES, FOOD AND CATERING Accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering Regulation 3.1 – Accommodation and recreational facilities Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have decent accommodation and recreational facilities on board 1. Each Member shall ensure that ships that fly its flag provide and maintain decent accommodations and recreational facilities for seafarers working or living on board, or both, consistent with promoting the seafarers’ health and well-being. 2. The requirements in the Code implementing this Regulation which relate to ship construction and equipment apply only to ships constructed on or after the date when this Convention comes into force for the Member concerned. For ships constructed before that date, the requirements relating to ship construction and equipment that are set out in the Accommodation of Crews Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 92), and the Accommodation of Crews (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1970 (No. 133), shall continue to apply to the extent that they were applicable, prior to that date, under the law or practice of the Member concerned. A ship shall be deemed to have been constructed on the date when its keel is laid or when it is at a similar stage of con truction. 3. Unless expressly provided otherwise, any requirement under an amendment to the Code relating to the provision of seafarer accommodation and recreational facilities shall apply only to ships constructed on or after the amendment takes effect for the Member concerned.
Regulation 3.2 – Food and catering Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have access to good quality food and drinking water provided under regulated hygienic conditions 1. Each Member shall ensure that ships that fly its flag carry on board and serve food and drinking water of appropriate quality, nutritional value and quantity that 52 Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 adequately covers the requirements of the ship and takes into account the differing cultural and religious backgrounds. 2. Seafarers on board a ship shall be provided with food free of charge during the period of engagement. 3. Seafarers employed as ships’ cooks with responsibility for food preparation must be trained and qualified for their position on board ship.
TITLE 4. HEALTH PROTECTION, MEDICAL CARE, WELFARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY PROTECTION
Regulation 4.1 – Medical care on board ship and ashore Purpose: To protect the health of seafarers and ensure their prompt access to medical care on board ship and ashore 1. Each Member shall ensure that all seafarers on ships that fly its flag are covered by adequate measures for the protection of their health and that they have access to prompt and adequate medical care whilst working on board. 2. The protection and care under paragraph 1 of this Regulation shall, in principle, be provided at no cost to the seafarers. 3. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on board ships in its territory who are in need of immediate medical care are given access to the Member’s medical facilities on shore. 4. The requirements for on-board health protection and medical care set out in the Code include standards for measures aimed at providing seafarers with health protection and medical care as comparable as possible to that which is generally available to workers ashore.
Regulation 4.2 – Shipowners’ liability Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are protected from the financial consequences of sickness, injury or death occurring in connection with their employment 1. Each Member shall ensure that measures, in accordance with the Code, are in place on ships that fly its flag to provide seafarers employed on the ships with a right to material assistance and support from the shipowner with respect to the financial consequences of sickness, injury or death occurring while they are serving under a seafarers’ employment agreement or arising from their employment under such agreement. 2. This Regulation does not affect any other legal remedies that a seafarer may seek.
Regulation 4.3 – Health and safety protection and accident prevention Purpose: To ensure that seafarers’ work environment on board ships promotes occupational safety and health 1. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on ships that fly its flag are provided with occupational health protection and live, work and train on board ship in a safe and hygienic environment. 2. Each Member shall develop and promulgate national guidelines for the management of occupational safety and health on board ships that fly its flag, after consultation with representative shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations and taking into account applicable codes, guidelines and standards recommended by international organizations, national administrations and maritime industry organizations. 3. Each Member shall adopt laws and regulations and other measures addressing the matters specified in the Code, taking into account relevant international instruments, and set standards for occupational safety and health protection and accident prevention on ships that fly its flag.
Regulation 4.4 – Access to shore-based welfare facilities Purpose: To ensure that seafarers working on board a ship have access to shore-based facilities and services to secure their health and well-being 1. Each Member shall ensure that shore-based welfare facilities, where they exist, are easily accessible. The Member shall also promote the development of welfare facilities, such as those listed in the Code, in designated ports to provide seafarers on ships that are in its ports with access to adequate welfare facilities and services. 2. The responsibilities of each Member with respect to shore-based facilities, such as welfare, cultural, recreational and information facilities and services, are set out in the Code.
Regulation 4.5 – Social security Purpose: To ensure that measures are taken with a view to providing seafarers with access to social security protection 1. Each Member shall ensure that all seafarers and, to the extent provided for in its national law, their dependants have access to social security protection in accordance with the Code without prejudice however to any more favourable conditions referred to in paragraph 8 of article 19 of the Constitution. 71 Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection 2. Each Member undertakes to take steps, according to its national circumstances, individually and through international cooperation, to achieve progressively comprehensive social security protection for seafarers. 3. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers who are subject to its social security legislation, and, to the extent provided for in its national law, their dependants, are entitled to benefit from social security protection no less favourable than that enjoyed by shoreworkers.
TITLE 5. COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
1. The Regulations in this Title specify each Member’s responsibility to fully implement and enforce the principles and rights set out in the Articles of this Convention as well as the particular obligations provided for under its Titles 1, 2, 3 and 4.
2. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article VI, which permit the implementation of Part A of the Code through substantially equivalent provisions, do not apply to Part A of the Code in this Title.
3. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article VI, each Member shall implement its responsibilities under the Regulations in the manner set out in the corresponding Standards of Part A of the Code, giving due consideration to the corresponding Guidelines in Part B of the Code.
4. The provisions of this Title shall be implemented bearing in mind that seafarers and shipowners, like all other persons, are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law and shall not be subject to discrimination in their access to courts, tribunals or other dispute resolution mechanisms. The provisions of this Title do not determine legal jurisdiction or a legal venue.
Regulation 5.1 – Flag State responsibilities Purpose: To ensure that each Member implements its responsibilities under this Convention with respect to ships that fly its flag Regulation 5.1.1 – General principles 1. Each Member is responsible for ensuring implementation of its obligations under this Convention on ships that fly its flag. 2. Each Member shall establish an effective system for the inspection and certification of maritime labour conditions, in accordance with Regulations 5.1.3 and 5.1.4 ensuring that the working and living conditions for seafarers on ships that fly its flag meet, and continue to meet, the standards in this Convention. 3. In establishing an effective system for the inspection and certification of maritime labour conditions, a Member may, where appropriate, authorize public institutions or other organizations (including those of another Member, if the latter agrees) which it recognizes as competent and independent to carry out inspections or to issue certificates or to do both. In all cases, the Member shall remain fully responsible for the inspection and certification of the working and living conditions of the seafarers concerned on ships that fly its flag. 4. A maritime labour certificate, complemented by a declaration of maritime labour compliance, shall constitute prima facie evidence that the ship has been duly inspected by the Member whose flag it flies and that the requirements of this Convention 74 Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 relating to working and living conditions of the seafarers have been met to the extent so certified. 5. Information about the system referred to in paragraph 2 of this Regulation, including the method used for assessing its effectiveness, shall be included in the Member’s reports to the International Labour Office pursuant to article 22 of the Constitution.
Regulation 5.1.2 – Authorization of recognized organizations 1. The public institutions or other organizations referred to in paragraph 3 of Regulation 5.1.1 (“recognized organizations”) shall have been recognized by the competent authority as meeting the requirements in the Code regarding competency and independence. The inspection or certification functions which the recognized organizations may be authorized to carry out shall come within the scope of the activities that are expressly mentioned in the Code as being carried out by the competent authority or a recognized organization. 2. The reports referred to in paragraph 5 of Regulation 5.1.1 shall contain information regarding any recognized organization, the extent of authorizations given and the arrangements made by the Member to ensure that the authorized activities are carried out completely and effectively.
Regulation 5.1.3 – Maritime labour certificate and declaration of maritime labour compliance 1. This Regulation applies to ships of: (a) 500 gross tonnage or over, engaged in international voyages; and (b) 500 gross tonnage or over, flying the flag of a Member and operating from a port, or between ports, in another country. For the purpose of this Regulation, “international voyage” means a voyage from a country to a port outside such a country. 2. This Regulation also applies to any ship that flies the flag of a Member and is not covered by paragraph 1 of this Regulation, at the request of the shipowner to the Member concerned. 3. Each Member shall require ships that fly its flag to carry and maintain a maritime labour certificate certifying that the working and living conditions of seafarers on the ship, including measures for ongoing compliance to be included in the declaration of maritime labour compliance referred to in paragraph 4 of this Regulation, have been inspected and meet the requirements of national laws or regulations or other measures implementing this Convention. 4. Each Member shall require ships that fly its flag to carry and maintain a declaration of maritime labour compliance stating the national requirements implementing this Convention for the working and living conditions for seafarers and setting out the measures adopted by the shipowner to ensure compliance with the requirements on the ship or ships concerned. 5. The maritime labour certificate and the declaration of maritime labour compliance shall conform to the model prescribed by the Code. 6. Where the competent authority of the Member or a recognized organization duly authorized for this purpose has ascertained through inspection that a ship that flies the Member’s flag meets or continues to meet the standards of this Convention, it shall issue or renew a maritime labour certificate to that effect and maintain a publicly available record of that certificate. 7. Detailed requirements for the maritime labour certificate and the declaration of maritime labour compliance, including a list of the matters that must be inspected and approved, are set out in Part A of the Code.
Regulation 5.1.4 – Inspection and enforcement 1. Each Member shall verify, through an effective and coordinated system of regular inspections, monitoring and other control measures, that ships that fly its flag comply with the requirements of this Convention as implemented in national laws and regulations. 2. Detailed requirements regarding the inspection and enforcement system referred to in paragraph 1 of this Regulation are set out in Part A of the Code.
Regulation 5.1.5 – On-board complaint procedures 1. Each Member shall require that ships that fly its flag have on-board procedures for the fair, effective and expeditious handling of seafarer complaints alleging breaches of the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights). 2. Each Member shall prohibit and penalize any kind of victimization of a seafarer for filing a complaint. 3. The provisions in this Regulation and related sections of the Code are without prejudice to a seafarer’s right to seek redress through whatever legal means the seafarer considers appropriate.
Regulation 5.1.6 – Marine casualties 1. Each Member shall hold an official inquiry into any serious marine casualty, leading to injury or loss of life, that involves a ship that flies its flag. The final report of an inquiry shall normally be made public. 2. Members shall cooperate with each other to facilitate the investigation of serious marine casualties referred to in paragraph 1 of this Regulation.
Regulation 5.2 – Port State responsibilities Purpose: To enable each Member to implement its responsibilities under this Convention regarding international cooperation in the implementation and enforcement of the Convention standards on foreign ships
Regulation 5.2.1 – Inspections in port 1. Every foreign ship calling, in the normal course of its business or for operational reasons, in the port of a Member may be the subject of inspection in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article V for the purpose of reviewing compliance with the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights) relating to the working and living conditions of seafarers on the ship. 2. Each Member shall accept the maritime labour certificate and the declaration of maritime labour compliance required under Regulation 5.1.3 as prima facie evidence of compliance with the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights). Accordingly, the inspection in its ports shall, except in the circumstances specified in the Code, be limited to a review of the certificate and declaration. 3. Inspections in a port shall be carried out by authorized officers in accordance with the provisions of the Code and other applicable international arrangements governing port State control inspections in the Member. Any such inspection shall be limited to verifying that the matter inspected is in conformity with the relevant requirements set out in the Articles and Regulations of this Convention and in Part A only of the Code. 4. Inspections that may be carried out in accordance with this Regulation shall be based on an effective port State inspection and monitoring system to help ensure that the working and living conditions for seafarers on ships entering a port of the Member concerned meet the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights). 5. Information about the system referred to in paragraph 4 of this Regulation, including the method used for assessing its effectiveness, shall be included in the Member’s reports pursuant to article 22 of the Constitution.
Regulation 5.2.2 – Onshore seafarer complaint-handling procedures 1. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on ships calling at a port in the Member’s territory who allege a breach of the requirements of this Convention (including seafarers’ rights) have the right to report such a complaint in order to facilitate a prompt and practical means of redress.
Regulation 5.3 – Labour-supplying responsibilities Purpose: To ensure that each Member implements its responsibilities under this Convention as pertaining to seafarer recruitment and placement and the social protection of its seafarers 1. Without prejudice to the principle of each Member’s responsibility for the working and living conditions of seafarers on ships that fly its flag, the Member also has a responsibility to ensure the implementation of the requirements of this Convention regarding the recruitment and placement of seafarers as well as the social security protection of seafarers that are its nationals or are resident or are otherwise domiciled in its territory, to the extent that such responsibility is provided for in this Convention. 2. Detailed requirements for the implementation of paragraph 1 of this Regulation are found in the Code. 3. Each Member shall establish an effective inspection and monitoring system for enforcing its labour-supplying responsibilities under this Convention. 4. Information about the system referred to in paragraph 3 of this Regulation, including the method used for assessing its effectiveness, shall be included in the Member’s reports pursuant to article 22 of the Constitution.
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