Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006

Q:-With reference to Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006. briefly discuss the following.

1.  Minimum requirements for seafarers working on a ship.
2. Conditions of employment.
3. Accornodation and Recreational facilities,
4. Health protection, welfare and social security protection 

TITLE 1:- Minimum requirement for seafarers to work on a ship

1. Age – Minimum age is 16 year
2. Medical certificate – Seafarer should be medically fit
3. Training and qualification – Seafarer should be duly trained and certified to work on board ship.
4. Recruitment and placement – License to agencies 

Regulation 1.1 - Minimum age

Purpose:-To ensure that no under-age persons work on a ship

• Under  this minimum age for a seafarer is defined as 16 years to work on board a ship.
• Also night work of seafarers under age of 18 years is prohibited.

Regulation 1.2 - Medical certificate

Purpose:- To ensure that all seafarers are medically fit to perform their duties at sea

This regulation deals with medical fitness of a seafarer. Seafarer shall not work on a ship unless they are certified as medically fit to perform their duties. The standard of medical examination is without any prejudice to STCW 1978 as amended. A medical certificate issued in accordance with the requirement of STCW shall be accepted by competent authority. Certificate should be issued by duly qualified medical practitioner.

Regulation 1.3 - Training and qualifications

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are trained or qualified to carry out their duties on board ship

This regulation deals with Training and qualification of seafarer. Seafarer shall not work on a ship unless they are trained or certified as competent or otherwise qualified to perform their duties. Training and certification should be in accordance with instruments adopted by IMO.

Regulation 1.4 - Recruitment and placement

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have access to an efficient and well-regulated seafarer recruitment and placement system

This regulation deals with the recruitment and placement services. All seafarers shall have access to an efficient,adequate and accountable system for finding employment on board ship without charge to the seafarer. Each member state has to ensure that all private seafarer recruitment and placement services shall be operated only with a standard system of licensing or certification. Member state has to ensure that no fees or other charges are being paid by seafarer except for national statutory medical certificate, national seafarer book and a passport. Member state has to make sure that seafarers are informed of their rights and duties under their employment agreement before the process of engagement.

TITLE 2:- Conditions of employment

1. Seafarer employment agreement.
2. Wages.
3. Hours of work and hours of rest.
4. Entitlement to leave.
5. Repatriation.
6. Seafarer compensation for the ship’s loss or foundering.
7. Manning levels.
8. Career and skill development and opportunities for seafarer employment 

Regulation 2.1 – Seafarers’ employment agreements

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have a fair employment agreement

• The terms and conditions for employment of a seafarer shall be clear written in a legally enforceable agreement. 
• It should be agreed by seafarer and he should has the opportunity to review and seek advice on the terms and conditions. 
• The agreement should be signed both by seafarer and the shipowner or representative of shipowner. 
• Both should have one set of original signed agreement copy.
•  Seafarer employment agreement should contain his full name, DOB, and birth place, shipowner name and address, capacity of seafarer to which he is employed, amount of his wages, amount of paid annual leave and termination of agreement.

Regulation 2.2 – Wages

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are paid for their services

• All seafarer shall be paid for their work regularly and in full in accordance with their employment agreement.
•  Member states have to make sure that payments to be made to seafarer at no greater than monthly basis. 
• Seafarer has to be given with full account of their wages on monthly basis.
•  Also seafarer should be able to remit full or part of their earning to their families, dependents or legal beneficiaries.

Regulation 2.3 – Hours of work and hours of rest

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have regulated hours of work or hours of rest

The limit of hours of work or rest shall be as follows-
a) Maximum hour of work shall not exceed

1. 14 hours in any 24 hours period and
2. 72 hours in any seven day period

OR
b) Minimum hours of rest shall not be less than

1. 10 hours in any 24 hours period and
2.  77 hours in any seven day period

   Hours of rest may be divided into no more than 2 periods, one of which shall be at least 6 hours in length and interval between consecutive periods of rest shall not exceed 14 hours.

Regulation 2.4 – Entitlement to leave

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have adequate leave

Each member state shall require that seafarer employed on their ships are given paid annual leave. Seafarer shall be granted shore leave to benefit their health and well being and with the operational requirement of their position.

Regulation 2.5 – Repatriation

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are able to return home

Seafarer have a right to be repatriated at no cost to themselves in circumstances and conditions specified in code. Member states are required to provide financial security to ensure that seafarer 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

Seafarers are entitled to adequate compensation in the case of injury, loss or unemployment arising from the ship's loss or foundering. Shipowner has to pay indemnity against unemployment to the seafarer.

Regulation 2.7 – Manning levels

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers work on board ships with sufficient personnel for the

Each member shall require that ships flying their flags have sufficient number of seafarer employed on board to ensure that ships are operated safely, efficiently and with due regard to security under all conditions

Regulation 2.8 – Career and skill development and opportunities for seafarers‘ employment

Purpose: To promote career and skill development and employment opportunities for seafarers

Each member state shall have national policies to promote employment in the maritime sector and to encourage career and skill development and greater employment opportunities for seafarer.

TITLE 3:- Accommodation, recreation facilities, food and catering

1. Accommodation and  recreation facilities
2. Food and catering

Regulation 3.1 – Accommodation and recreational facilities

Purpose: To ensure that seafarers have decent accommodation and recreational facilities on board

Title 3, Regulation 3.1 addresses vessel design issues related to quality of life at sea, including the physical design of seafarer accommodation areas and the characteristics of the ambient environment (e.g., wholebody vibration, noise, indoor climatic variables, and lighting) which seafarers are exposed to during rest and recreation. requiring that ships that fly its flag:

•  (a) meet minimum standards to ensure that any accommodation for seafarers, working or living on board, or both, is safe, decent and in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Standard; and
•  (b) are inspected to ensure initial and ongoing compliance with those standards.

The competent authority shall pay particular attention to ensuring implementation of the requirements of this Convention relating to:

•  (a) the size of rooms and other accommodation spaces;
•  (b) heating and ventilation;
•  (c) noise and vibration and other ambient factors;
•  (d) sanitary facilities;
•  (e) lighting; and
•  (f) hospital accommodation.

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

  Each Member shall ensure that ships that fly its flag meet the following minimum standards:

•  (a) food and drinking water supplies, having regard to the number of seafarers on board, their religious requirements and cultural practices as they pertain to food, and the duration and nature of the voyage, shall be suitable in respect of quantity, nutritional value, quality and variety;
•  (b) the organization and equipment of the catering department shall be such as to permit the provision to the seafarers of adequate, varied and nutritious meals prepared and served in hygienic conditions; and
•  (c) catering staff shall be properly trained or instructed for their positions.

TITLE 4 :- Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection

1. Medical care on board ship and ashore
2. Ship owner’s liability
3. Health and safety protection and accident protection
4. Access to shore based welfare facilities
5. Social security

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

Each Member shall ensure that measures providing for health protection and medical care, including essential dental care, for seafarers working on board a ship that flies its flag are adopted which:

•  ensure the application to seafarers of any general provisions on occupational health protection and medical care relevant to their duties.
•  give seafarers the right to visit a qualified medical doctor or dentist without delay in ports of call, where practicable;
•  health protection services while a seafarer is on board ship or landed in a foreign port are provided free of charge to seafarers; and
• are not limited to treatment of sick or injured seafarers but include measures of a preventive character such as health promotion and health education programmes.

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

:

•  shipowners shall be liable to bear the costs for seafarers working on their ships in respect of sickness and injury of the seafarers occurring between the date of commencing duty and the date upon which they are deemed duly repatriated, or arising from their employment between those dates;
•  shipowners shall provide financial security to assure compensation in the event of the death or long-term disability .
• shipowners shall be liable to defray the expense of medical care, including medical treatment and the supply of the necessary medicines and therapeutic appliances, and board and lodging away from home until the sick or injured seafarer has recovered, or until the sickness or incapacity has been declared of a permanent character; and
•  shipowners shall be liable to pay the cost of burial expenses in the case of death occurring on board or ashore during the period of engagement.

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

• on-board programmes for the prevention of occupational accidents, injuries and diseases and for continuous improvement .
• requirements for inspecting, reporting and correcting unsafe conditions and for investigating and reporting on-board occupational accidents.

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

• Each Member shall require, where welfare facilities exist on its territory, that they are available for the use of all seafarers, irrespective of nationality, race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion or social origin and irrespective of the flag State of the ship on which they are employed or engaged or work.
• Each Member shall promote the development of welfare facilities in appropriate ports of the country and determine, after consultation with the shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations concerned, which ports are to be regarded as appropriate.
•  Each Member shall encourage the establishment of welfare boards which shall regularly review welfare facilities and services to ensure that they are appropriate in the light of changes in the needs of seafarers resulting from technical, operational and other developments in the shipping industry

Regulation 4.5 – Social security

Purpose: To ensure that measures are taken with a view to providing seafarers with access to social security protection

The branches to be considered with a view to achieving progressively comprehensive social security protection  are: medical care, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, old-age benefit, employment injury benefit, family benefit, maternity benefit, invalidity benefit and survivors’ benefit.