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International Labour Organisation News

16 Jan 2023

Advisory Committee to Address Issues Impacting Filipino Seafarers

Global leaders from organizations representing seafarers, shipowners and other maritime employers signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippines’s Department of Migrant Workers on Wednesday 11 January, to form the International Advisory Committee on Global Maritime Affairs (IACGMA).The IACGMA is composed of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC), and the…

12 Dec 2022

Shipping Must Accelerate Its Decarbonization Efforts, and Now It Has the Opportunity to Do So

Š Petru / Adobe Stock

Member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN agency that regulates international maritime affairs, are meeting on December 5-16 to discuss how to accelerate the industry’s climate mitigation efforts.An initial strategy – agreed in 2018, when the industry’s emissions were roughly the same as Germany’s – targeted a 50% reduction in shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and included a noncommittal aim to phase out emissions in line with the 1.5℃ temperature…

28 Aug 2019

World’s First: India Intros Facial Bio-Metric SID

India has become the first country in the world to issue Bio-metric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID), capturing the facial bio-metric data of seafarers.Mansukh Mandaviya, the Minister of Shipping launched the project in New Delhi yesterday (August 28). He also handed over the new BSID cards to five Indian seafarers.The new facial biometric technology is a marked improvement over the two finger or iris based bio-metric data, with modern security features. It will make the identification of the SID holder more reliable and efficient, while protecting their dignity and privacy. India had made a presentation on this technology at International Labour Organization (ILO).Mandaviya said that the country is moving ahead rapidly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

07 Dec 2017

European Council Agrees to Implement ECSA-ETF Agreement

European shipowners and European transport workers speak together to warmly welcome today’s adoption of a Council Directive improving seafarers’ working conditions. This change will implement an agreement between the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), which will bring European rules up-to-date with international best practice. The new rules oblige shipowners to provide financial security protecting seafarers against the consequences of abandonment in an overseas port. In addition, this agreement ensures the payment of contractual compensation in the event of the death or long-term disability of a seafarer resulting from an occupational injury, illness or hazard.

04 Sep 2017

Shipping’s Recovery May Not Lift Seafarer Wage Costs

Despite a recovery in cargo shipping markets, ship manning costs will remain suppressed as shipowners and operators continue to be financially challenged and the officer shortfall recedes, according to the latest Manning report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry. The lack of confidence in the industry has seen wage increases almost at a standstill since 2009, and over the past year average officer rates have slid into reverse. While there remains an overall shortfall in officer numbers, this has reduced markedly over the past year and the poor financial state of the industry has forced employers to limit labour costs to affordable levels.

27 Jul 2017

EMSP Welcomes EC Directive on Seafarers

The European Maritime Social Partners (EMSP) warmly welcome the European Commission’s adoption of their proposal to update their Agreement on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC). The ILO MLC amendments entered into force on 18 January 2017 and require shipowners to provide financial security to ensure the repatriation of seafarers and the payment of contractual claims from seafarers or their dependants in respect of death in service or long-term disability. The MLC 2006 sets minimum requirements to improve seafarers’ working and living conditions including recruitment and placement practices…

27 Jul 2017

EC Measures to Improve Conditions for Seafarers

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a proposal for a Directive which aims at improving the working conditions of seafarers on board EU-flagged vessels. The proposal transposes an agreement between social partners in the maritime transport sector into EU law. This agreement in turn takes account of changes to the Maritime Labour Convention, which the Members of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted in 2014. Seafarers will in the future be better protected against abandonment by shipowners. The new rules strengthen the right to compensation in the event of death or long-term disability due to an occupational injury, illness or hazard.

05 Aug 2015

Fishermen's Messaging Service Saves Lives, Boosts Income in East India

A fisherman's son and now a fisherman himself, Kulamani Tarai knows all too well that while the sea has provided sustenance to his family for generations, it can also be a cruel and deadly place. Every morning, when he leaves his mud-and-thatch home on India's east coast to venture out on his wooden boat into the Bay of Bengal, he knows there is a chance he will not return. Deaths of fishermen are common along this coastal belt of Odisha state, where calm seas can suddenly turn violent and swallow flimsy boats his, leaving families back home to grieve fathers, sons and brothers lost at sea. But a new state-run voice messaging mobile service for fishermen, which provides weather updates, ocean status forecasts and locations of where to scout for a fish, is trying to change this.

29 Apr 2015

Greece Mulls Ports Sale to Reach Deal with EU/IMF Lenders

Greece's government is considering selling stakes in its two largest ports as a concession to reach an agreement with its lenders and unlock bailout funds, a government official said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's new leftist government had sought to cancel significant terms of Athens' bailout programme, calling it a "crime" to sell off strategic national assets. But hard-pressed for cash and with its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund demanding policy concessions before they agree to release remaining bailout aid, the government has softened its stance. "The negotiating team wants a deal with lenders and we are willing to sell Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports, 51 percent stakes," a government official told reporters.

19 Aug 2014

North Sea OSVs Liable to Detention if MLC Non-compliant

The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), an international agreement which safeguards the employment rights, working conditions and health care of seafarers, came into force in the UK on 7 August. Shipping and maritime law expert Katie Williams of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that although most UK operators were already compliant, vessels operating or passing through UK waters under other national flags could now be at risk of enforcement action. "The Maritime Labour Convention consolidates what has been in place in the UK for some years, but a major change is that for the first time it has an enforcement mechanism with real 'teeth'," she said.

21 Apr 2014

InterManager Welcomes New MLC Amendment

File photo

InterManager, the international trade association for the ship management industry, says it has welcomed the adoption of new measures to protect seafarers against abandonment. Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, agreed at a meeting of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva last week, will ensure the provision of financial security systems to assist seafarers in the event of their abandonment and for compensation for seafarers’ contractual claims for death and personal injury.

11 Apr 2014

Port of Antwerp wins “Port of the Year” Award

International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN). award on behalf of Antwerp Port Authority at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva. recognition of the efforts made on a daily basis by the Antwerp port community on behalf of the many seafarers. port of and for people. presentation. skin colour, language or religious conviction. In fact there have been seamen’s missions in Antwerp from as early as 1870. computers, wifi and sports facilities so that they can relax and keep in touch while they are away from home. Hotel opened with budget-friendly accommodation for seafarers. welfare of seafarers. The port of Antwerp is particularly pleased with this second Welfare Award. international logistics chains that bind our city and port to the rest of the world.

27 Feb 2014

Construction and Drilling Training Center Opens

TQ Construction and Drilling Training Center Inaugurated in Dammam. Leading representatives from Saudi’s oil and gas sector gathered in Dammam on Thursday, February 27, to launch the newest Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic (SPSP), the Construction and Drilling Training Center. His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz attended the Inauguration, along with His Excellency, Eng. Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Dr Ali Nasir Al-Ghofais, Governor of TVTC and His Excellency Mr Khalid Al-Falih, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco. The Construction and Drilling Training Center is the fourth SPSP to be opened in the Kingdom, with the original SPSP campus also located in Dammam, and other centers in Al Khafji and Rabigh.

20 Sep 2013

Lloyd's Register Alert: Heightened Attention to Specific Survey Items

Lloyd’s Register (LR) is fully committed to maintaining the quality of its classed fleet. Our surveyors have been working closely with owners and operators to help them better prepare ships for inspections by port state control (PSC), with the aim of reducing the number of deficiencies and detentions. This approach has been successful, as demonstrated by the latest Paris MOU figures for classification societies which show LR moving up to 3rd position overall. LR continues to review…

27 May 2013

'The Seafarers' Charter': P&I Clubs Clarify Financial Obligations

Entry into force of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) Circular 10/13: International Group P&I clubs clarify financial aspects. Members are referred to the previous circular issued in March this year on the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC). The imminent entry into force of the MLC has brought the Convention and its requirements on shipowners into focus and in particular the financial security requirements established in the Convention. By way of clarification and for Members’ guidance, the financial security requirements on shipowners set out below will become effective with the entry into force of the MLC on 20 August 2013.

24 Feb 2013

Nigeria Latest to Ratify MLC

Nigerian MLC Press Conference: Photo credit Nigeria Govt.

The Minister of Labour & Productivity, begins the process of ratifying the International Labour Organisation’s Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC2006). During the session, the Minister, Emeka Wogu commented that the step is another milestone aimed at generating and sustaining industrial peace and harmony which is pivotal for the attainment of the Transformation Agenda of the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. He stated, “This meeting marks for us another…

27 Nov 2012

Seafarer's Congress Warned MLC Could be a 'Paper Tiger'

Dr Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, of the International Labour Organisation doubted effectiveness of Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006. Delegates at Apostleship of the Sea's 23rd international congress in the Vatican were told that the MLC 2006 was simply a tool that had to be used wisely. "But if not used or improperly used may be of little consequence - the so called 'paper tiger'; or it may even cause harm, if only because it is then very difficult to mobilize the political will to replace an international instrument. The MLC, 2006, which will enter into force in August 2013, has so far been ratified by countries responsible for about 60 per cent of world shipping.

22 Aug 2012

Lloyd's Statutory Alert:

12 months until the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 comes into force. On 20 August, 2012, the Philippines ratified the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006. Thirty members of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), with a total share in the world gross tonnage of ships of more than 33 per cent, have now ratified the Convention. This means that the Convention will come into force on 20 August, 2013. • of 500 gt or over, flying the flag of a member and operating from a port, or between ports, in another country.

28 Mar 2012

ETC Expands Its Training Network Again

ETC, the MSG MarineServe GmbH-operated ECDIS Training Consortium, announced a further expansion of its ECDIS training network through an agreement with STET Maritime in Singapore to act as its local partner. MSG will provide its well-established ECDIS training courseware, ECDIS training systems and approved Train-the-Trainer courses. In addition, MSG will provide 24/7 certificate authentication and trainee database services for reference by its Partners, Customers, Port State Control and other concerned authorities. STET Maritime will deliver the training, which is configured on a single, comprehensive, training structure and methodology in order to guarantee the quality and consistency of the training. STET Maritime Pte Ltd.

29 Apr 2011

Seafarers’ Center Grand Reopening

On May 17, 2011, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) hosts the Grand Reopening of its International Seafarers’ Center in Port Newark, NJ. SCI undertook a major renovation of the Center, completing construction late last year, to establish a first-rate facility for the global shipping industry working in the Port of New York and New Jersey, the East Coast’s largest port. “The welfare of international trade in the Port of New York and New Jersey hinges on this Center,” says the Rev. David M. Rider, President & Executive Director of SCI.

29 Nov 2010

Seafarers’ Legislation Faces Year-Long Ratification Delay

Full ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) which will have far reaching implications for the whole shipping industry, including commercial yachts, is now likely to be delayed by a year until April 2012. “Although the required gross tonnage figure has been reached there is, however, some doubt as to whether the necessary number of countries will be achieved by the end of this year,” said John Wade, technical services manager with Isle of Man-based Dominion Marine. His prediction comes after attending the Global Superyacht Forum 2010 in Amsterdam which saw delegates from the leading brokerage houses and major shipyards taking part in the industry’s largest and most valuable conference event.

02 Aug 2010

Clyde Marine Recruitment Achieves MLC Accreditation

Clyde Marine Recruitment is the first UK manning office to be approved by Lloyds Register for provision of manpower to ship owners, ship managers and ship operators incorporating the requirements of the International Labour Organisation’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC 2006) as applicable to recruitment and placements.  This accreditation replaces the former ASMO (Approved Seafarer Manning Office) which Clyde Marine were also first to achieve in the UK.

05 Mar 2010

Seatrans AS Increases Safeguards

Photo Courtesy of Seatrans

Concateno, a European chemical, drug and alcohol testing provider, has been selected by Norwegian shipping company, Seatrans AS, to monitor the potential exposure of its seafaring crew to benzene. Concateno provides a unique service for monitoring personnel for benzene, and its maritime test service was runner up in the Safety at Sea Seatrade Awards last year. Appointed by Seatrans, Concateno will establish and implement an effective program to test and monitor benzene levels among crew members and assess the risk of exposure onboard Seatrans vessels.

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