The General Conference of the International Labour Organization,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having
met in its Ninety-fourth Session on 7 February 2006, and
Desiring to create a single, coherent instrument embodying as far as possible all up-to-date standards
of existing international maritime labour Conventions and Recommendations, as well as the fundamental
principles to be found in other international labour Conventions, in particular:
- the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29);
- the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87);
- the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98);
- the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100);
- the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105);
- the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111);
- the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138);
- the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182); and
Mindful of the core mandate of the Organization, which is to promote decent conditions of work, and
Recalling the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, 1998, and
Mindful also that seafarers are covered by the provisions of other ILO instruments and have other
rights which are established as fundamental rights and freedoms applicable to all persons, and
Considering that, given the global nature of the shipping industry, seafarers need special protection, and
Mindful also of the international standards on ship safety, human security and quality ship management
in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended, the Convention on
the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, as amended, and the seafarer
training and competency requirements in the International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended, and
Recalling that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, sets out a general legal
framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out and is of strategic
importance as the basis for national, regional and global action and cooperation in the marine sector,
and that its integrity needs to be maintained, and
Recalling that Article 94 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, establishes
the duties and obligations of a flag State with regard to, inter alia, labour conditions, crewing
and social matters on ships that fly its flag, and
Recalling paragraph 8 of article 19 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation
which provides that in no case shall the adoption of any Convention or Recommendation by the
Conference or the ratification of any Convention by any Member be deemed to affect any law,
award, custom or agreement which ensures more favourable conditions to the workers concerned than
those provided for in the Convention or Recommendation, and
Determined that this new instrument should be designed to secure the widest possible acceptability
among governments, shipowners and seafarers committed to the principles of decent work, that it
should be readily updateable and that it should lend itself to effective implementation and enforcement,
and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals for the realization of such an instrument, which
is the only item on the agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention;
adopts this twenty-third day of February of the year two thousand and six the following Convention,
which may be cited as the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
General Obligations
Article I
- 1. Each Member which ratifies this Convention undertakes to give complete
effect to its provisions in the manner set out in Article VI in order to
secure the right of all seafarers to decent employment.
- 2. Members shall cooperate with each other for the purpose of ensuring
the effective implementation and enforcement of this Convention.
Definition and scope of application
Article II
-
1. For the purpose of this Convention and unless provided otherwise in
particular provisions, the term:
- (a) competent authority means the minister,
government department or other authority having power to issue and
enforce regulations, orders or other instructions having the force of
law in respect of the subject matter of the provision concerned;
- (b) declaration of maritime labour compliance means the declaration
referred to in Regulation 5.1.3;
- (c) gross tonnage means the gross tonnage calculated in accordance
with the tonnage measurement regulations contained in Annex I to the International
Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969, or any successor
Convention; for ships covered by the tonnage measurement interim scheme
adopted by the International Maritime Organization, the gross tonnage is
that which is included in the REMARKS column of the International Tonnage
Certificate (1969);
- (d) maritime labour certificate means the certificate
referred to in Regulation 5.1.3;
- (e) requirements of this Convention refers to the
requirements in these Articles and in the Regulations and Part A of the
Code of this Convention;
- (f) seafarer means any person who is employed or engaged
or works in any capacity on board a ship to which this Convention
applies;
- (g) seafarers' employment agreement includes both a
contract of employment and articles of agreement;
- (h) seafarer recruitment and placement service means any
person, company, institution, agency or other organization, in the public
or the private sector, which is engaged in recruiting seafarers on
behalf of shipowners or placing seafarers with shipowners;
- (i) 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;
- (j) 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 organization or
persons fulfil certain of the duties or responsibiities on behalf of
the shipowner.
- 2.Except as expressly provided otherwise, this Convention applies to all seafarers.
- 3.In the event of doubt as to whether any categories of persons are to be
regarded as seafarers for the purpose of this Convention, the question shall be determined
by the competent authority in each Member after consultation with the shipowners'
and seafarers' organizations concerned with this question
- 4. Except as expressly provided otherwise, this Convention applies to all ships,
whether publicly or privately owned, ordinarily engaged in commercial activities, other
than ships engaged in fishing or in similar pursuits and ships of traditional build such
as dhows and junks. This Convention does not apply to warships or naval auxiliaries.
- 5. In the event of doubt as to whether this Convention applies to a ship or particular
category of ships, the question shall be determined by the competent authority
in each Member after consultation with the shipowners' and seafarers' organizations
concerned.
- 6. Where the competent authority determines that it would not be reasonable
or practicable at the present time to apply certain details of the Code referred to in
Article VI, paragraph 1, to a ship or particular categories of ships flying the flag of the
Member, the relevant provisions of the Code shall not apply to the extent that the
subject matter is dealt with differently by national laws or regulations or collective
bargaining agreements or other measures. Such a determination may only be made
in consultation with the shipowners' and seafarers' organizations concerned and may
only be made with respect to ships of less than 200 gross tonnage not engaged in international
voyages.
- 7. Any determinations made by a Member under paragraph 3 or 5 or 6 of this
Article shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour
Office, who shall notify the Members of the Organization.
- 8. Unless expressly provided otherwise, a reference to this Convention constitutes
at the same time a reference to the Regulations and the Code.
Fundamental rights and principles
Article III
Each Member shall satisfy itself that the provisions of its law and
regulations respect, in the context of this Convention, the fundamental rights
to:
- (a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to
collective bargaining;
- (b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
- (c) the effective abolition of child labour; and
- (d) the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and
occupation.
Seafarers' Employment and Social Rights
Article IV
- 1. Every seafarer has the right to a safe and secure workplace that
complies with safety standards.
- 2. Every seafarer has a right to fair terms of employment.
- 3. Every seafarer has a right to decent working and living conditions
on board ship.
- 4. Every seafarer has a right to health protection, medical care, welfare
measures and other forms of social protection.
- 5. Each Member shall ensure, within the limits of its jurisdiction,
that the seafarers' employment and social rights set out in the preceding
paragraphs of this Article are fully implemented in accordance with the
requirements of this Convention. Unless specified otherwise in the Convention,
such implementation may be achieved through national laws or regulations,
through applicablecollective bargaining agreements or through other measures
or in practice.
Implementation and Enforcement Responsibilities
Article V
- 1. Each Member shall implement and enforce laws or regulations or other
measures that it has adopted to fulfil its commitments under this Convention
with respect to ships and seafarers under its jurisdiction.
- 2. Each Member shall effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control over
ships that fly its flag by establishing a system for ensuring compliance with
the requirements of this Convention, including regular inspections, reporting,
monitoring and legal proceedings under the applicable laws.
- 3. Each Member shall ensure that ships that fly its flag carry a maritime
labour certificate and a declaration of maritime labour compliance as required
by this Convention.
- 4. A ship to which this Convention applies may, in accordance with
international law, be inspected by a Member other than the flag State, when
the ship is in one of its ports, to determine whether the ship is in
compliance with the requirements of this Convention.
- 5. Each Member shall effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control over
seafarer recruitment and placement services, if these are established in its
territory.
- 6. Each Member shall prohibit violations of the requirements of this
Convention and shall, in accordance with international law, establish
sanctions or require the adoption of corrective measures under its laws which
are adequate to discourage such violations.
- 7. Each Member shall implement its responsibilities under this Convention in
such a way as to ensure that the ships that fly the flag of any State that has
not ratified this Convention do not receive more favourable treatment than the
ships that fly the flag of any State that has ratified it.
Regulations and Parts A and B of the Code
Article VI
- 1. The Regulations and the provisions of Part A of the Code are mandatory. The
provisions of Part B of the Code are not mandatory.
- 2. Each Member undertakes to respect the rights and principles set out in the
Regulations and to implement each Regulation in the manner set out in the
corresponding provisions of Part A of the Code. In addition, the Member shall
give due consideration to implementing its responsibilities in the manner
provided for in Part B of the Code.
- 3. A Member which is not in a position to implement the rights and principles
in the manner set out in Part A of the Code may, unless expressly provided
otherwise in this Convention, implement Part A through provisions in its laws
and regulations or other measures which are substantially equivalent to the
provisions of Part A.
- 4. For the sole purpose of paragraph 3 of this Article, any law, regulation,
collective agreement or other implementing measure shall be considered to be
substantially equivalent, in the context of this Convention, if the Member
satisfies itself that:
- (a) it is conducive to the full achievement of the general object and
purpose of the provision or provisions of Part A of the Code concerned; and
- (b) it gives effect to the provision or provisions of Part A of the Code
concerned.
Consultation with Shipowners' and Seafarers' Organizations
Article VII
Any derogation, exemption or other flexible application of this Convention for
which the Convention requires consultation with shipowners' and seafarers'
organizations may, in cases where representative organizations of shipowners
or of seafarers do not exist within a Member, only be decided by that Member
through consultation with the Committee referred to in Article XIII.
Entry into Force
Article VIII
- 1. The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.
- 2. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the
International Labour Organization whose ratifications have been registered by
the Director-General.
- 3. This Convention shall come 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 at least 33 per cent.
- 4. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member 12 months
after the date on which its ratification has been registered.
Denunciation
Article IX
- 1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the
expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into
force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International
Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until
one year after the date on which it is registered.
- 2. Each Member which does not, within the year following the expiration of the
period of ten years mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article, exercise the
right of denunciation provided for in this Article, shall be bound for another
period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the
expiration of each new period of ten years under the terms provided for in
this Article.
Effect of Entry into Force
Article X
This Convention revises the following Conventions:
- Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920 (No. 7)
- Unemployment Indemnity (Shipwreck) Convention, 1920 (No. 8)
- Placing of Seamen Convention, 1920 (No. 9)
- Medical Examination of Young Persons (Sea) Convention, 1921 (No. 16)
- Seamen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926 (No. 22)
- Repatriation of Seamen Convention, 1926 (No. 23)
- Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936 (No. 53)
- Holidays with Pay (Sea) Convention, 1936 (No. 54)
- Shipowners' Liability (Sick and Injured Seamen) Convention, 1936 (No. 55)
- Sickness Insurance (Sea) Convention, 1936 (No. 56)
- Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention, 1936 (No. 57)
- Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1936 (No. 58)
- Food and Catering (Ships' Crews) Convention, 1946 (No. 68)
- Certification of Ships' Cooks Convention, 1946 (No. 69)
- Social Security (Seafarers) Convention, 1946 (No. 70)
- Paid Vacations (Seafarers) Convention, 1946 (No. 72)
- Medical Examination (Seafarers) Convention, 1946 (No. 73)
- Certification of Able Seamen Convention, 1946 (No. 74)
- Accommodation of Crews Convention, 1946 (No. 75)
- Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention, 1946 (No. 76)
- Paid Vacations (Seafarers) Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 91)
- Accommodation of Crews Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 92)
- Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 93)
- Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1958 (No. 109)
- Accommodation of Crews (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1970 (No. 133)
- Prevention of Accidents (Seafarers) Convention, 1970 (No. 134)
- Continuity of Employment (Seafarers) Convention, 1976 (No. 145)
- Seafarers' Annual Leave with Pay Convention, 1976 (No. 146)
- Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147)
- Protocol of 1996 to the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147)
- Seafarers' Welfare Convention, 1987 (No. 163)
- Health Protection and Medical Care (Seafarers) Convention, 1987 (No. 164)
- Social Security (Seafarers) Convention (Revised), 1987 (No. 165)
- Repatriation of Seafarers Convention (Revised), 1987 (No. 166)
- Labour Inspection (Seafarers) Convention, 1996 (No. 178)
- Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers Convention, 1996 (No. 179)
- Seafarers' Hours of Work and the Manning of Ships Convention, 1996 (No. 180).
Depositary Functions
Article XI
- 1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all
Members of the International Labour Organization of the registration of all
ratifications, acceptances and denunciations under this Convention.
- 2. When the conditions provided for in paragraph 3 of Article VIII have been
fulfilled, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the
Organization to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.
Article XII
The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to
the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance
with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all
ratifications, acceptances and denunciations registered under this Convention.
Special Tripartite Committee
Special Tripartite Committee
Article XIII
- 1. The Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall keep the
working of this Convention under continuous review through a committee
established by it with special competence in the area of maritime labour
standards.
- 2. For matters dealt with in accordance with this Convention, the Committee
shall consist of two representatives nominated by the Government of each
Member which has ratified this Convention, and the representatives of
Shipowners and Seafarers appointed by the Governing Body after consultation
with the Joint Maritime Commission.
- 3. The Government representatives of Members which have not yet ratified this
Convention may participate in the Committee but shall have no right to vote on
any matter dealt with in accordance with this Convention. The Governing Body
may invite other organizations or entities to be represented on the Committee
by observers.
- 4. The votes of each Shipowner and Seafarer representative in the Committee
shall be weighted so as to ensure that the Shipowners' group and the
Seafarers' group each have half the voting power of the total number of
governments which are represented at the meeting concerned and entitled to
vote.
Amendment of this Convention
Article XIV
- 1. Amendments to any of the provisions of this Convention may be adopted by
the General Conference of the International Labour Organization in the
framework of article 19 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation and the rules and procedures of the Organization for the adoption
of Conventions. Amendments to the Code may also be adopted following the
procedures in Article XV.
- 2. In the case of Members whose ratifications of this Convention were
registered before the adoption of the amendment, the text of the amendment
shall be communicated to them for ratification.
- 3. In the case of other Members of the Organization, the text of the
Convention as amended shall be communicated to them for ratification in
accordance with article 19 of the Constitution.
- 4. An amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted on the date when there
have been registered ratifications, of the amendment or of the Convention as
amended, as the case may be, by at least 30 Members with a total share in the
world gross tonnage of ships of at least 33 per cent.
- 5. An amendment adopted in the framework of article 19 of the Constitution
shall be binding only upon those Members of the Organization whose
ratifications have been registered by the Director-General of the
International Labour Office.
- 6. For any Member referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, an amendment
shall come into force 12 months after the date of acceptance referred to in
paragraph 4 of this Article or 12 months after the date on which its
ratification of the amendment has been registered, whichever date is later.
- 7. Subject to paragraph 9 of this Article, for Members referred to in
paragraph 3 of this Article, the Convention as amended shall come into force
12 months after the date of acceptance referred to in paragraph 4 of this
Article or 12 months after the date on which their ratifications of the
Convention have been registered, whichever date is later.
- 8. For those Members whose ratification of this Convention was registered
before the adoption of an amendment but which have not ratified the amendment,
this Convention shall remain in force without the amendment concerned.
- 9. Any Member whose ratification of this Convention is registered after the
adoption of the amendment but before the date referred to in paragraph 4 of
this Article may, in a declaration accompanying the instrument of
ratification, specify that its ratification relates to the Convention without
the amendment concerned. In the case of a ratification with such a
declaration, the Convention shall come into force for the Member concerned 12
months after the date on which the ratification was registered. Where an
instrument of ratification is not accompanied by such a declaration, or where
the ratification is registered on or after the date referred to in paragraph
4, the Convention shall come into force for the Member concerned 12 months
after the date on which the ratification was registered and, upon its entry
into force in accordance with paragraph 7 of this Article, the amendment shall
be binding on the Member concerned unless the amendment provides otherwise.
Amendments to the Code
Article XV
- 1. The Code may be amended either by the procedure set out in Article XIV or,
unless expressly provided otherwise, in accordance with the procedure set out
in the present Article.
- 2. An amendment to the Code may be proposed to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office by the government of any Member of the
Organization or by the group of Shipowner representatives or the group of
Seafarer representatives who have been appointed to the Committee referred to
in Article XIII. An amendment proposed by a government must have been proposed
by, or be supported by, at least five governments of Members that have
ratified the Convention or by the group of Shipowner or Seafarer
representatives referred to in this paragraph.
- 3. Having verified that the proposal for amendment meets the requirements of
paragraph 2 of this Article, the Director-General shall promptly communicate
the proposal, accompanied by any comments or suggestions deemed appropriate,
to all Members of the Organization, with an invitation to them to transmit
their observations or suggestions concerning the proposal within a period of
six months or such other period (which shall not be less than three months nor
more than nine months) prescribed by the Governing Body.
- 4. At the end of the period referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, the
proposal, accompanied by a summary of any observations or suggestions made
under that paragraph, shall be transmitted to the Committee for consideration
at a meeting. An amendment shall be considered adopted by the Committee if:
- (a) at least half the governments of Members that have ratified this
Convention are represented in the meeting at which the proposal is considered;
and
- (b) a majority of at least two-thirds of the Committee members vote in
favour of the amendment; and
- (c) this majority comprises the votes in favour of at least half the
government voting power, half the Shipowner voting power and half the Seafarer
voting power of the Committee members registered at the meeting when the
proposal is put to the vote.
- 5. Amendments adopted in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article shall be
submitted to the next session of the Conference for approval. Such approval
shall require a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the delegates
present. If such majority is not obtained, the proposed amendment shall be
referred back to the Committee for reconsideration should the Committee so
wish.
- 6. Amendments approved by the Conference shall be notified by the
Director-General to each of the Members whose ratifications of this Convention
were registered before the date of such approval by the Conference. These
Members are referred to below as the ratifying Members . The notification
shall contain a reference to the present Article and shall prescribe the
period for the communication of any formal disagreement. This period shall be
two years from the date of the notification unless, at the time of approval,
the Conference has set a different period, which shall be a period of at least
one year. A copy of the notification shall be communicated to the other
Members of the Organization for their information.
- 7. An amendment approved by the Conference shall be deemed to have been
accepted unless, by the end of the prescribed period, formal expressions of
disagreement have been received by the Director-General from more than 40 per
cent of the Members which have ratified the Convention and which represent not
less than 40 per cent of the gross tonnage of the ships of the Members which
have ratified the Convention.
- 8. An amendment deemed to have been accepted shall come into force six months
after the end of the prescribed period for all the ratifying Members except
those which had formally expressed their disagreement in accordance with
paragraph 7 of this Article and have not withdrawn such disagreement in
accordance with paragraph 11. However:
- (a) before the end of the prescribed period, any ratifying Member may
give notice to the Director-General that it shall be bound by the amendment
only after a subsequent express notification of its acceptance; and
- (b) before the date of entry into force of the amendment, any ratifying
Member may give notice to the Director-General that it will not give effect to
that amendment for a specified period.
- 9. An amendment which is the subject of a notice referred to in paragraph 8(a)
of this Article shall enter into force for the Member giving such notice six
months after the Member has notified the Director-General of its acceptance of
the amendment or on the date on which the amendment first comes into force,
whichever date is later.
- 10. The period referred to in paragraph 8(b) of this Article shall not go
beyond one year from the date of entry into force of the amendment or beyond
any longer period determined by the Conference at the time of approval of the
amendment.
- 11. A Member that has formally expressed disagreement with an amendment may
withdraw its disagreement at any time. If notice of such withdrawal is
received by the Director-General after the amendment has entered into force,
the amendment shall enter into force for the Member six months after the date
on which the notice was registered.
- 12. After entry into force of an amendment, the Convention may only be
ratified in its amended form.
- 13. To the extent that a maritime labour certificate relates to matters
covered by an amendment to the Convention which has entered into force:
- (a) a Member that has accepted that amendment shall not be obliged to
extend the benefit of the Convention in respect of the maritime labour
certificates issued to ships flying the flag of another Member which:
- (i) pursuant to paragraph 7 of this Article, has formally expressed
disagreement to the amendment and has not withdrawn such disagreement; or
- (ii) pursuant to paragraph 8(a) of this Article, has given notice that
its acceptance is subject to its subsequent express notification and has not
accepted the amendment; and
- (b) a Member that has accepted the amendment shall extend the benefit of
the Convention in respect of the maritime labour certificates issued to ships
flying the flag of another Member that has given notice, pursuant to paragraph
8(b) of this Article, that it will not give effect to that amendment for the
period specified in accordance with paragraph 10 of this Article.