Special Tripartite Committee News

In a statement submitted to the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) meeting held last week, SRI, the international pan-industry body researching maritime and seafarers’ law, called for more States to ratify the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) to ensure a level playing field in the shipping industry.At the meeting, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, executive director of SRI said, “More ratifications are needed to bring the Convention on a par with SOLAS, MARPOL and the STCW, the other three…

As the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) apex institution for maritime and ocean education, the World Maritime University (WMU) adds its voice to widespread concerns over the serious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, wellbeing, and safety of seafarers.As countries around the world retreat to fight the pandemic, travel restrictions and financial losses are hitting shipping and other ocean-related industries hard. At sea, maritime workers are bearing the…

The Special Tripartite Committee approved amendments of the Maritime Labour Convention providing for seafarers to continue to be paid if held captive as a result of piracy or armed robbery against ships. Seafarers held captive as a result of an act of piracy or armed robbery against ships will continue to receive their wages and entitlements during their period of captivity under amendments  to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC, 2006)  adopted by the Special Tripartite Committee  of the MLC, 2006 at a recent meeting at the ILO in Geneva. The amendments will be submitted for approval at the 28 May-8 June, 2018 International Labour Conference .

The issue of protecting captive seafarers' wages is on the agenda at an International Labour Organization (ILO) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland (3-5 April). IMO has taken part in the ILO Working Group of the Special Tripartite Committee, established under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) – the international treaty covering minimum working and living standards for seafarers. The Group is considering proposals on the protection of a seafarer's wages when the seafarer is held captive, on or off the ship, as a result of acts such as piracy or armed robbery against ships. These proposals include an amendment to the MLC Code. Speaking at the meeting…

Maritime employers and seafarers’ unions have joined forces to publish new international ‘Guidance on Eliminating Shipboard Harassment and Bullying’. The new Guidelines, developed by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), can be downloaded from the ICS and ITF websites. These Guidelines have been launched in advance of an important International Labour Organization (ILO) Special Tripartite Committee on the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), to be held in February in Geneva, at which ICS and ITF will co-ordinate the representation of the social partners alongside governments.

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.

InterManager said it welcomes 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 Organization 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. InterManager Secretary General, Captain Kuba Szymanski, said: “InterManager welcomes this protection for seafarers.

Governments, maritime employer representatives coordinated by the International Shipping Federation (ISF) and their counterparts from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) met this week at the International Labor Organization in Geneva for the first meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) established under the Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). During the meeting, an agreement was reached for amendments to the Convention to 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.