GL Launches Pocket Guide for MLC 2006

With a sweeping reach and wide ranging application the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC 2006) will have a significant impact on shipowners, managers, crewing agencies and most importantly the seafarers on-board. At its entry into force the MLC 2006 will alter some 37 ILO conventions and require the certification of over 55,000 seagoing vessels. Preparing for this sea change will require a massive adjustment. To support the maritime industry in this endeavour Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has developed an easy to use Pocket Guide on the MLC 2006. 

Alongside GL's E-Learning tool on the Convention the new Pocket Guide is part of a set of tools to make the implementation of the MLC 2006 as smooth, transparent and comprehensible as possible. The Pocket Guide explains as simply, practically and concisely as possible, what the MLC 2006 is about, what it means to those on board and, during a MLC 2006 audit, what the inspectors will be looking for when they visit a vessel.

Olaf Quas, GL's Global Head of Practice ISM/ISPS/MLC 2006, explains: "We have developed this Pocket Guide to help seafarers to understand the key issues of this new Convention and enable shipowners to prepare for demonstrating compliance with the new requirements. The main topics of the MLC 2006 are explained very clearly and concisely. This Pocket Guide has been built especially with the crew on board in mind, but its portability and ease of use will also be appreciated by personnel who cannot easily visit a training seminar."

The so called "Fourth Pillar of Shipping" the MLC 2006 will introduce mandatory regulations governing the working and living conditions for seafarers on nearly every seagoing ship trading internationally. The convention sets out to provide seafarers with fair, safe and decent working and living conditions.  To date, 22 Member States have ratified the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC 2006), with another eight ratifications still required for ratification. The MLC 2006 will then enter into force 12 months later. Although the exact date of entry into force of this new Convention is not yet known, it is anticipated that full ratification will be achieved early in 2012.