Maritime Labour Convention – A

Brief Introduction

Dr. Matthew Attard – GANADO

Advocates
 Preamble

The Preamble to the Maritime Labour Convention(

the MLC) states that its objectives are to create a
single, coherent instrument incorporating the latest
standards as per international maritime labour
Conventions and Recommendations, and
fundamental principles found therein.
 Preamble
• In particular the MLC’s objectives are to
incorporate the principles found in:
1. The Forced Labour Convention (1930)
2. The Freedom of association and protection of
the right to organize convention (1948)
3. The equal remuneration Convention (1951)
4. The abolition of Forced labour Convention
(1957)
 Preamble
5. The discrimination (Employment and
Occupation) Convention (1958)
6. The Minimum Age Convention (1973)
7. The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
(1999)
It is also held that the Convention is drafted in
a spirit adhering to the core mandate of the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) ; that
being the promotion of decent conditions to
work.

Given the global nature of the shipping

industry, seafarers need special protection
The MLC is further mindful of Article 94 of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea (1982) which establishes the duties and
obligations of flag states:

3. Every State shall take such measures for

ships flying its flag as are necessary to ensure
safety at sea with regard, inter alia, to:
(b) the manning of ships, labour conditions
and the training of crews, taking into account
the applicable international instruments;
Article IV of the Preamble to the MLC directly
highlights seafarers’ employment and social
rights; including:
A safe and secure workplace complying with
safety standards;
Fair terms of employment;
Decent working and living conditions on
board;
Health protection and other forms of social
protection.
 Structure of the Convention
The MLC is further subdivided in five titles
dealing with:
1.Minimum Requirements for seafarers to work
on a ship
2.Conditions of Employment
3.Accommodation, Recreational Facilities, Food
and Catering
4.Health protection, Medical Care, Welfare and
Social Security Protection
5.Compliance and Enforcement
 Scope
Clause 4 states that except as expressly
provided otherwise, this Convention applies to
all ships whether publicly or privately owned,
ordinarily engaged in commercial activities.
The convention does NOT apply to warships or
naval auxiliaries
 Conditions of Employment
The MLC makes reference to fair seafarer employment agreements under
Regulation 2.1, providing decent working and living conditions on board.

Regulation 2.3 further discusses hours of work and rest, ensuring that
they are duly regulated and that each Member State establishes maximum
hours of work and minimum hours of rest.

Said maximum hours of work shall not exceed:

 14 hours in any 24 hour period;
 72 hours in any 7 day period;

while the minimum hours of rest shall not be less than:

 10 hours in any 24 hour period;
 77 hours in any 7 day period;
 Accommodation
Regulation 3.1 of the MLC ensures decent
accommodation and recreational facilities on board.
Further specific standards are provided to ensure
clarity; namely relating to:
• The size of rooms and other accommodation spaces;
• Heating and ventilation;
• Noise and vibration and other ambient factors;
• Sanitary facilities;
• Lighting;
• Hospital Accommodation.
General accommodation requirements include
adequate headroom, insulation, proper lighting and
sufficient drainage.

Other requirements are subject specific; such as

Clause 7 of Standard A3.1 dealing with ventilation
and heating; stating that ships shall be equipped with
air conditioning/heating (although this may be
foregone in cases of ships of less than 200 gross
tonnage as per Clause 20); or Clause 9, which holds
that in ships other than passenger ships, an
individual sleeping room shall be provided to each
seafarer, albeit in the case of ships of less than 3,000
gross tonnage, exemptions from this requirement
may be granted by the competent authority.
 Maltese Scenario
As per its transposition into Maltese law on
the 20th August 2013 via Subsidiary Legislation
234.51 via Legal Notice 145 of 2013 as
amended by Legal Notice 262 of 2013, the
Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour
Convention) Rules (hereafter referred to as
the Rules), adopts the regulations listed in the
MLC faithfully.
 Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour
Convention) Rules
3. (1) Subject to sub-rule (2), these rules shall
apply to all Maltese seagoing ships wherever
they are and to all other ships while they are in
Maltese ports as determined by the Convention
and to all seafarers serving onboard such
ships.
Article 3(2) goes on to add that the Rules shall
NOT apply to:
- Fishing vessels;
- Ships of a traditional build;
- Small ships as defined in the Small Ships
Regulations and that navigate exclusively in
internal waters or waters closely adjacent to
Malta;
- Yachts in non-commercial use;
- Warships or naval auxiliaries.
Guidelines for the Implementation of
the MLC 2006

These Guidelines – issued by Transport Malta

via Merchant Shipping Notice 105 on the 20th
February 2013- make provision for the
Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance
(DMLC), which summarises national
legislation relating to the MLC by
implementing an agreed upon list of 14 areas
of maritime standards to be adhered to.
The Merchant Shipping Directorate is responsible for issuing
the DMLC Part I, detailing matters to be inspected, ship
specific requirements and any applicable exemptions granted
under Title III of the MLC dealing with Accommodation,
Recreational Facilities, Food and Catering.

The DMLC Part II shall then be completed by the ship-owner,

who must identify the measures being adopted in order to
ensure ongoing compliance with national legislation. Said
compliance must be verified and vetted by taking various
documents into consideration; these including seafarer
employment agreements, collective bargaining agreements
etc. This is to be further complimented by an onboard
inspection verifying successful implementation of the
measures earlier identified.
 Parameters
• The 14 Parameters are the following:
1. Minimum Age (reg. 1.1)
2. Medical Certification (reg. 1.2)
3. Qualification of Seafarer (reg. 1.3)
4. Seafarer’s Employment Agreement (reg 2.1)
5. Use of any licensed or certified or regulated
private recruitment and placement service *
(reg 1.4)
 Parameters 2
6. Hours of work or rest (reg 2.3)
7. Manning Levels for the Ship (reg 2.7)
8. Accommodation (reg 3.1)
9. On-Board recreational facilities (regulation
4.1)
10. Food and Catering (reg 3.2)
11. Health and Safety and Accident prevention
(reg 4.3)
 Parameters 3
12. On-Board Medial Care (reg 4.1)
13. On-Board Complaint Procedure (reg 5.1.5)
14. Payment of Wages (reg 2.2)
 Maritime Labour Certificate
In furtherance to the DMLC, the Guidelines, in line with
Title V of the MLC dealing with compliance and
enforcement, a Maritime Labour Certificate is to be
issued to ships of 500GT or more, confirming that
working and living conditions have been inspected and
verified in light of national legislation implementing
the MLC. (audit carried out)

This certificate shall be issued for a period not

exceeding 5 years, and shall not be renewed prior to
verifying whether all national requirements
implementing the MLC are being met.
Both the Maritime Labour Certificate and the
DMLCs shall cease to be valid where:
required inspections have not been carried
out;
the ship-owner has changed;
the flag has changed; or
substantial modifications to the structure or
equipment have been made.
 Concluding Remarks
As earlier mentioned, the ILO’s Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work is
committed towards employment at sea and
holds:
Whereas, in seeking to maintain the link between social
progress and economic growth, the guarantee of fundamental
principles and rights at work is of particular significance in
that it enables the persons concerned, to claim freely and on
the basis of equality of opportunity, their fair share of the
wealth which they have helped to generate, and to achieve
fully their human potential;
Non-applicability of the MLC to crew aboard
private pleasure yachts appears to be in
direct contradiction to the aforementioned.
 THE END
Thank you

mattard@ganadoadvocates.com