APPLICATION OF THE MARITIME LABOUR CONVENTION, 2006
UNITED KINGDOM POLICY
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This page gives the current UK policy on application of the MLC, 2006. These positions have been discussed and agreed with the Tripartite Working Group which is advising the MCA on implementation of the Convention. However, much of the implementing legislation is yet to be subject to public consultation, and there will be an opportunity to refine our position in the light of the responses to consultation.
The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 is intended to ensure that all seafarers have the right to a safe and secure workplace, fair terms of employment, decent working and living conditions on ship, and rights to health protection, medical care and other social protection.
It therefore applies to every seafarer and all ships, except those expressly excluded from the scope of the Convention.
The excluded vessels are :
- ships engaged in fishing or in similar pursuits (there is a separate, similar Directive for work in fishing which is expected to come in to force around 2012);
- ships of traditional build such as dhows or junks;
- warships or naval auxiliaries).
seafarer means any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship to which this Convention applies
ship means a ship other than one which navigates exclusively in inland waters or waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply
The Convention does allow some flexibility for maritime administrations to determine, in consultation with shipowner and seafarer representatives, the scope of application “in case of doubt” about whether the Convention should apply.
The following definitions and guidance, agreed with the Tripartite Working Group on implementation of the MLC, explain how the Convention will be applied on United Kingdom ships.
4.0 Application of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006
1.1 Seafarer - General
There is no change of UK policy on this issue, but the opportunity has been taken to clarify the definitions in the Regulations, and to align our guidance with Resolution VII adopted by the International Labour Conference in February 2006.
Meaning of "Seafarer" 1. - (1) in these Regulations "seafarer" means any person, including the master, who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship on the business of the ship but does not include a person who— (a) is training in a sail training vessel, or (b) is onboard a sail training vessel other than for training but - (i) is not engaged in or responsible for the navigation of the vessels, and (ii) has no emergency safety responsibilities on the vessel. 2. In paragraph (1) "sail training vessel" means a a sail training vessel which is being used either - (a) to provide instruction in the principles of responsibility, resourcefulness, loyalty and team endeavour and to advance education at the heart of seamanship, or (b) to provide instructionon navigation and seamanship for yachtsmen, and which is operating under the Code of Practice. |
Additional guidance
A seafarer means any person, including the master, who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a seagoing ship on the business of the ship. As well as the master and crew of a seagoing ship, this includes persons such as shopkeepers, resident entertainers and hairdressers who are employed by a franchise company to work on board. It may also include self-employed persons who work on board the ship.
“Seafarer” does not apply to those persons whose work is not part of the routine business of the ship and whose principal place of work is ashore, for example, marine professionals such as harbour pilots, inspectors, or superintendents; scientists researchers, divers, specialist offshore technicians.
“Seafarer” does not include those who are working on a seagoing ship on an occasional and short-term basis e.g. fitters, guest lecturers and entertainers, repair technicians, surveyors or port workers.
The Regulations also apply to the master and crew of seagoing domestic passenger ships and those holding RYA certificates with commercial endorsements and working on small commercial vessels operating at sea.
The Regulations also apply to self-employed persons who work on board the ship on the business of the ship
1.2 Status of Cadets
MCA considers that all trainees (other than trainees on sail training vessels who are specifically excluded by the legal definition above) are included in the definition of “seafarer”. They should have the same protection as other seafarers, including in terms of their working and living conditions.
- Seafarer employment agreements – Cadets are issued with a training agreement. We expect that a training agreement can be incorporated into the seafarer employment agreement between the shipowner and the cadet
- Accommodation – A3.1.9(a) requires individual sleeping accommodation to be provided for each seafarer (other than on passenger ships). Traditionally cadets under training have shared cabins. MCA’s current position is that single cabins should be provided for cadets as for other seafarers. However, the requirement will only apply to new ships (keel laid after the coming into force of the Convention). There are discussions underway at an international level on how to safeguard the number of training berths on ships and we will monitor any developments and take them into account in finalising our policy.
Article 2(1)(j) of the Convention contains the following definition of “shipowner”:
“shipowner” means the owner of a ship or any other organisation 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 the Maritime Labour Convention, regardless of whether any other organisation or persons fulfil certain of the duties or responsibilities on behalf of the owner,]
We do not propose to include the second part (ie the text in square brackets) in the definition of shipowner used in UK legislation. This is because we do not want to allow room for an argument that a person who has generally assumed responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner has not specifically agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on the shipowner by the Convention and so should not be considered as the shipowner for those purposes.
We consider that this is the proper approach because:
- As a matter of policy and the proper interpretation of the Convention, there should be a single “shipowner” for each ship who has general responsibility for the ship’s operation.
- In practice, there should be no ambiguity as to who is “the shipowner” of a given ship in this context:
- The shipowner is named on the Maritime Labour Certificate for each ship and so is easily identified.
- The shipowner completes the Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance Part II saying how compliance with the Convention is ensured and maintained.
- The shipowner will be named on the SEA for each seafarer on board, which will specify the undertakings made with respect to the living and working conditions for that seafarer.
- Omitting these words therefore does not affect the substance of the definition.
There has been no change of policy but the latest definition is intended to provide greater clarity. The underlying aim is that any ship which operates commercially at sea (ie outside categorised waters as defined in MSN 1776(M)) should be covered by the definition.
Extract from the Medical Certification Regs :
"sea-going" in relation to a Unitied Kingdom ship means - (a) a ship in respect of which a certificate is required to be in force in accordance with- (i) the Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Regulations 1998 (1), (ii) the Merchant Shipping (Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport or pleasure) Regulations 1998 (2), or (iii) the Merchant Shipping (Small Workboats and Pilot Boats) Regulations 1998 (3), (b) a passenger ship of class I,II,II(A), III, VI or VI(A) in respect of which a certificate is required to be in force in accordance withthe Merchant Shipping (Survey and Certification) Regulations 1995 (4), or (c) a high speed craft in respect of which a permit to operate outside waters of Categories A,B,C or D is required to be in force in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (High Speed Craft) Regulations 2004(5). |
4.0 APPLICATION OF THE MARITIME LABOUR CONVENTION, 2006
4.1 The Convention applies to all ships which are ordinarily engaged in commercial operations.
“Ship” means a ship other than one which navigates exclusively in inland waters or waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.
4.2 The UK therefore proposes to apply the provisions of the Convention to:
- all UK vessels which operate either on international voyages, or from a foreign port; and
- all UK vessels operating on UK domestic voyages which operate more than 60 miles from the UK coast;
- all UK vessels operating on UK domestic voyages which are 500 gross tonnage or over.
4.3 A number of the standards introduced by the Convention will however be applied to all sea-going ships (as defined above) e.g. medical certification, hours of work. For others, the scope of application will be determined by patterns of operation rather than distance from shore e.g. crew accommodation, food and catering.
There is some flexibility in the Convention in respect of crew accommodation standards on vessels under 200gt. The UK Small Commercial Vessel Codes includes standards which cover many of the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 and they will be reviewed to ensure that, where the Convention applies, the standards in the Code provide a substantial equivalence.
It is recognised that it may be very difficult for large yachts in the 200gt -500gt bracket to comply with the full crew accommodation provisions under Standard A3.1 of the Convention. The MCA is working with representatives from the sector and social partners to agree a revised version of Ch 21 of the Large Yacht Code (MSN 1792(M)) which meets the objectives, and as far as possible complies with the MLC, 2006 standards, but recognises the particular constraints on this sector.
The MCA will also be discussing the issues with other interested flag states, with a view to presenting proposals to the ILO for adoption as an amendment to the MLC, 2006 in due course.