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Maritime Labour Convention
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
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The Maritime Labour Convention (Convention) is a global legal instrument developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. It was drafted with a view to completing the international regulatory regime for quality shipping as the “fourth pillar,” standing next to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. Its two fundamental aims are to ensure comprehensive and worldwide protection of the rights of seafarers, and in doing so, to also allow a level playing field for states and ship owners committed to providing decent working and living conditions for seafarers by protecting them from unfair competition on the part of substandard ships. To this end, the establishment of firm rules that can be flexibly implemented by state parties, while at the same time providing rigorous compliance and enforcement procedures to safeguard their integrity and efficiency, are important aspects underlying the Convention.
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- Copyright © American Society of International Law 2014
References
* This text was reproduced and reformatted from the text available at the International Labour Organization website (visited October 17, 2014), http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C186.
1 Maritime Labour Convention, Feb. 23, 2006 (entered into force Aug. 20, 2013), available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@normes/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_090250.pdf.
2 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, Nov. 2, 1973, 1340 U.N.T.S. 184, as amended by Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, Feb. 2, 1978, 1340 U.N.T.S. 61.
3 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, Nov. 1, 1974, 1184 U.N.T.S. 32.
4 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, July 7, 1978, 1361 U.N.T.S. 2.
5 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference, Feb. 7–23, 2006, Report of the Committee of the Whole, Doc. ILC94-PR7 (Part I) Provisional Record 7.
6 Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference (7–23 February 2006): The Global Seafarer: Mixed Fortunes Mirror Global Trends, International Labour Organization (Jan. 29, 2006), http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_065214/lang–en/index.htm.
7 International Labour Organization, Report of the Director-General on Developments in the Maritime Sector, at 15–43, ILO Doc. Confrep-ILC94-Maritime-2005-09-0247-1 (2005).
8 See Moira L. McConnell, Dominick Devlin, & Cleopatra Doumbia–Henry, The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 – A Legal Primer to an Emerging International Regime (2011).
9 Press Release, International Labour Organization, ILO Director-General Says New Maritime Convention on Track to Make “Labour History,” ILO Press Release ILO/06/06 (Feb. 20, 2006). The Convention entered into force on August 20, 2013, pursuant to Article VIII, paragraph 3, 12 months after it was ratified by at least 30 members of the ILO with a total share in the world gross tonnage of ships of at least 33%.
10 In fact, many provisions of existing maritime labor conventions with significantly less worldwide acceptance have been inserted as non-mandatory Part B Guidelines of the Code; otherwise they would have reproduced obstacles of the same nature to the ratification of this Convention.
11 Maritime Labour Convention, supra note 1, art. VI(3–4).
12 See id. Explanatory Note to the Regulations and Code of the Maritime Labour Convention, ¶ 8.
13 International Labour Organization, Report of the Chairperson of the Governing Body to the 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference, at 6–8, ILO Doc. ILC94-PR1 (2006).
14 The thirty-six previous merchant shipping conventions and one protocol that are consolidated in the Convention are listed by name in Article X of the Convention.
15 See Nathan, Lillie, The ILO Maritime Labour Convention 2006: A New Paradigm for Global Labour Rights Implementation , in Cross-Border Social Dialogue And Agreements: An Emerging Global Industrial Relations Framework? 191–215 (Konstantinos Papadakis ed., 2008)Google Scholar.
16 See Alexandros X.M., Ntovas, The Enforcement Procedures in the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 , in The Maritime Labour Convention: International Labour Law Redefined 151–180 (Jennifer Lavelle ed., 2013)Google Scholar.
17 For example, before the Convention, these obligations were only implicit in the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147) and the Labour Inspection (Seafarers) Convention, 1996 (No. 178), both of which are now embodied in the Convention.
18 See in particular Article V, paragraphs 1 and 6, in conjunction with Article I, paragraph 2. Moreover, as noted in the Preamble of the Convention, a general obligation also arises for flag states under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 3, which stipulates that “every State shall take such measures for ships flying its flag as are necessary to ensure safety at sea with regard, inter alia, to: the manning of ships, labour conditions and the training of crews, taking into account the applicable international instruments,” id. art. 94(3).
19 See International Labour Organization, Guidelines For Flag State Inspections Under The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (2009), available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/— ed_norm/—normes/documents/publication/wcms_101788.pdf. A number of auxiliary pro forma samples relevant to compliance and enforcement procedures under Title 5 are appended to the end with a view to assuring a worldwide, uniform documentation practice and coherent administrative policy.
20 As defined in general terms by International Maritime Organization Res. A.787(19), Procedures for Port State Controls, amended by Res. A.882(21), . 21 Maritime Labour Convention, supra note 1, art. V(7). This may be a considered a highly controversial issue in light of the general principle of pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt as codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Articles 34–8. See International Labour Standards Department, Maritime Labour Convention, 2006: Frequently Asked Questions, at 4 (3rd ed. 2014) (“Article V, paragraph 7, of the MLC, 2006, contains what is often called the ‘no more favourable treatment clause’. It seeks to ensure a ‘level playing field’ under which the ships flying the flag of countries that have ratified the Convention will not be placed at a competitive disadvantage as compared with ships flying the flag of countries that have not ratified the [Convention]. Although it appears that Article V, paragraph 7, could conceivably apply in various situations, in practice it relates essentially to the context of port State control under Regulation 5.2.1, with respect to ships flying a foreign flag and calling at a port of a ratifying country.” (emphasis added)).
22 International Labour Organization, Guidance on Implementing the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006: Model National Provisions at 116 (2012), [hereinafter Model National Provisions] available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/— ed_norm/—normes/documents/publication/wcms_170389.pdf.
23 International Labour Organization, Preparatory Tripartite MLC, 2006, Committee: Background Paper, at 3, ILO Doc. PTMLC/2010 (2010), [hereinafter MLC Background Paper] available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@normes/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_142914.pdf.
24 International Labour Organization, Tripartite Intersessional Meeting on the Follow-up of the Preparatory Technical Maritime Conference – Unresolved Issues for the Draft Consolidated Maritime Labour Convention 2006, at 22, ILO Doc. PTMC/2005/1 (2005).
25 Model National Provisions, supra note 22, at 116–126. 26 See Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Building the Momentum for the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, 2 International Register Of Shipping Magazine 18 (2009).
27 Press Release, International Labour Organization, ILO to Adopt “Bills of Rights” for Seafarers, ILO Press Release ILO/06/03 (Feb. 6, 2006).
28 See MLC Background Paper, supra note 23; International Labour Organization, Standing Orders of the Special Tripartite Committee Established to Give Effect to Article XIII of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, ILO Doc. GB.313/LILS/3 (Feb. 10, 2012). The inaugural meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee established by the Governing Body in accordance with Article XIII of the Convention took place at the ILO in Geneva from April 7–11, 2014.
1 For ships covered by the tonnage measurement interim scheme adopted by the IMO, the gross tonnage is that which is included in the REMARKS column of the International Tonnage Certificate (1969). See Article II(1)(c) of the Convention.
2 Shipowner means the owner of the ship or another organization or person, such as the manager, agent or bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners in accordance with this Convention, regardless of whether any other organizations or persons fulfil certain of the duties or responsibilities on behalf of the shipowner. See Article II(1)(j) of the Convention.