Marine Online
After completing this lesson you will be aware of the kind of evidence that will
be expected to be available in order to demonstrate ongoing compliance for the
MLC 2006 and appreciate the need to follow the on board procedures and
maintain onboard records in order to achieve ongoing compliance with the MLC
2006 as was stated earlier in lesson 3 ship staff are more likely to be
directly involved with port state-controlled inspections for ongoing
compliance than with flag state inspections the main exceptions to this
are the mandatory flag state interim inspections and certificate renewal
inspections in this lesson we will concentrate on the information and
evidence that must be are made available by the master in order to meet the
requirements of a port state control inspection
in many cases a port state control inspection of a foreign vessel flying
the flag of a ratifying Member State will be confined to a check of the
validity of the vessels maritime labor certificate in accordance with the
requirements of the convention the properly completed maintained and valid
certificate should be accepted as prima facie evidence of compliance in such
cases and with no other factors such as a complaint from a crew member the
inspection should be deemed complete if the certification is found acceptable
they may however be circumstances under which a detailed inspection is deemed
necessary by the port state control officer and it is then that the master
will need to provide evidence of compliance the circumstances which may
result in port state control carrying out a detailed inspection are if the MLC
certification is invalid if there are obvious deficiencies to the requirements
of the convention or as a result of a seafarers complaint relating to a breach
of the convention being upheld the type and nature of the evidence that may be
required in such circumstances is covered in the rest of this lesson it
should be noted that similar evidence will be required by flag state
inspectors during the mandatory interim and renewal inspections
we're records or information already exists on board for other purposes and
they are relevant for demonstrating MLC 2006 compliance there is no need to
duplicate this material it will be sufficient to reference its location so
that it can be easily accessed by port state control inspectors wear suitable
evidence and information do not already exist to help demonstrate compliance
with MLC 2006 requirements then it will be necessary to generate it directly for
this purpose if the requirements of the declaration of maritime labor compliance
have been correctly addressed by the ship owner and the resulting policies
and procedures are properly implemented sufficient relevant evidence should be
available for inspectors to verify compliance with some requirements of the
convention may require actions other than checking recorded evidence it may
be necessary to carry out area inspections or to interview crew members
to confirm entries and records are accurate and legitimate the master must
ensure that inspectors carrying out MLC 2006 inspections are afforded all
reasonable opportunities to check compliance the master must also ensure
that current and accurate records are kept readily available to provide
evidence of ongoing compliance possible evidence requirements for the identified
inspection areas are covered in the rest of this lesson
to meet the evidence requirements of regulations 1.1 1.2 and 1.3 which deal
with seafarers details such as age qualifications at medical status the
existing cruellest documentation may be all that is required however the master
will have a responsibility to carry out reasonable checks that all of the
details entered onto the crew lists are correct even though they should have
been checked by the ship owner or recruitment and placement service for
example medical certificates might need to be checked for authenticity against a
list of approved medical practitioners similarly certificates of competence and
birth certificates should be inspected where any doubt exists as to the
authenticity of any seafarers documents then follow-up checks should be carried
out with the relevant authorities where possible records of these checks should
be retained for inspection purposes existing crew lists may need to be
modified to ensure that all of the information required under these
regulations is available for example expiry dates of certificates and
arrangements for renewal of these
inspectors will require evidence of compl
relating to crew employment agreements under regulation 2.1 and for treatment
of basement services under regulation 1.4 as far as evidence of compliance
with the requirements for crew employment agreements are concerned it
should be a straightforward matter of maintaining on board records and
ensuring the relevant documentation is available to port state control
inspectors under the regulation seafarers are entitled to review their
agreements to receive advice regarding the terms and conditions and to be given
a signed copy of the agreement seafarers are also entitled to receive a
documented record of their employment onboard the vessel a record of
statements signed by both the master and the individual Seafarer that all of
these entitlements have been met will provide the primary evidence of
compliance inspectors may wish to confirm the authenticity of these
records by carrying out random interviews of crew members providing
sufficient onboard evidence of compliance with the requirements for
recruitment and placement services under regulation 1.4 will be more difficult as
it is generally outside of the masters control in most cases the master will
have no direct knowledge of the activities of these services and will
need to rely on a list of approved services as the primary check additional
anecdotal evidence will be obtained by inspectors interviews with individual
seafarers
it is unlikely that existing documentation will meet the full
requirements detailed in regulation 2.3 relating to hours of work and hours of
rest this is primarily due to the maximum and minimum limits that apply
over an aggregated period of time as an example the regulation states that the
maximum hours of work shall not exceed 14 hours in any 24 hour period by
definition any 24 hour period is a continually changing period the problem
is made even worse when considering the minimum rest periods and the maximum
interval between them it will therefore probably be necessary for the shipping
companies to design suitable documentation or probably obtain bespoke
software that is able to record all of the onboard work activities and produce
the required evidence it will be the masters responsibilities to ensure that
the documentation or computer records are accurately and properly maintained
it is likely in many cases that the data input for these records will be entered
by department heads or other delegated personnel and that the master will check
that these are complete and up to date as well as the detailed records of work
activities it is also a requirement that a detailed schedule of service both at
sea and in port is clearly displayed on board the vessel again it is likely that
inspectors will use Seafarer interviews as a check as to the
authenticity of any records used as evidence the far as Manning levels
requirements covered by regulation 2.7 are concerned there will probably be
sufficient primary evidence of compliance obtained through checking the
crew list against the safe Manning document however once again it is likely
that interviewing of crew members will be used by inspectors to verify that
there is no undue risk of hazard resulting from fatigue due to crew
members carrying out normal operational duties
the requirements for accomodation and recreational facilities depend on
whether the ship was in existence before or after entry into force of the
convention for existing ships the convention
requirements do not apply unless any substantial changes or modifications
have been made following entry into force they will normally be subject to
ILO conventions 92 or 133 or 147 depending on which one was enforced at
the time the vessels were built and only if those conventions had been ratified
by the flag state in such cases the accommodation and recreational
facilities must be maintained in a decent condition which promotes
seafarers health and well-being
chips built after the maritime into force will be subject to the full
requirements of regulation 3.1 these new ships will have her to meet the
requirements of the convention prior to being issued with a maritime labor
certificate by the flag state unless any subsequent changes are made to the
accommodation or recreational facilities the master will normally only need to be
concerned with maintaining compliance with the requirements of the other parts
of the convention this will require that the accommodation and other facilities
are maintained in a good clean condition and they're regularly inspected by the
master or other designated person in addition to having access to the record
of inspections and the opportunity to visually inspect these areas port state
control inspectors may wish to interview crew members to confirm the conditions
are acceptable
there are a number of evidence sources that an inspector will need to check to
ensure compliance with regulation 3.2 which deals with onboard food and
catering suitable records must be maintained and made available to the
inspector to show that the food and drinking water are of suitable quality
and quantity for the ship's crew the inspector will also need to verify the
training and age of the ship's cook although this may already have been
covered by compliance with other regulations samples of menus may be
required to prove that the nutritional quality and the variety of meals are
suitable and this will normally be confirmed by Seafarer interviews it is
also likely that the inspector will wish to carry out a visual inspection of all
the catering facilities including food handling and storage areas cooking areas
mess rooms and drinking water storage and treatment facilities
it is probable that the evidence that will be
choir to show compliance with regulation 4.3 which deals with onboard health and
safety and accident prevention will already exist within the onboard is M
records and procedures in such cases it may only be necessary to identify the
location of the records to the inspector so that he can check them verification
that the records are genuine and that procedures are followed correctly may be
achieved by a Seafarer interviews the main items that will be inspected are
company health and safety policies and the effectiveness of the ship Safety
Committee with particular regard to reporting and Prevention of accidents
risk assessment and membership of the committee
the evidence required for showing compliance with regulation 4.1 will be a
combination of visual inspection onboard records and Seafarer interviews the
inspector will need to carry out a visual check of the medical facilities
and the medical supplies and equipment this will include the ship's hospital
and also the medical chest in addition to a visual inspection of the contents
of the medical chest the inspector will need to verify that it is being properly
maintained it will therefore be necessary to record onboard inspections
of the medical supplies and to show how they are kept up-to-date and replenished
either when items are out of date or when items have been used in treatments
the inspector will also need evidence of the qualifications of the person in
charge of administering medical care it is also likely that the inspector will
carry out interviews with the person in charge of medical care and other crew
members to verify that suitable care is indeed available
the evidence that is available on board to verify compliance with the
requirements of regulation 2.2 which deals with payment of seafarers wages
will vary greatly from ship to ship depending on the company's payroll
arrangements where payment of wages is wholly controlled on board ship by the
master then full records of all pay related issues should be available the
inspector will require documentary evidence such as the ship's monthly
accounts an individual payment advice notes including details of any
deductions made the frequency at which payments are made and also full details
of the allotment Arrangements where the payroll is fully controlled by the
shipping company office ashore the inspector will require evidence of how
additional payments are made to individual seafarers for work not
covered by basic wages or salary in all cases the individual Seafarer employment
agreements containing full details of payment arrangements should be available
for inspection whatever arrangements are in place should be in accordance with
the relevant section of part 2 of the declaration of maritime labor compliance
and this should also be available for the inspector in many cases the
inspector will have to rely on Seafarer interviews for confirmation of
compliance
your final area highlight port state control inspection guidelines
are the requirements of regulation five point one point five dealing with the on
board complaints procedure this regulation is seen as one of the key
elements of the convention and is likely to be one of the areas that the
inspector would be most interested in when carrying out a detailed inspection
the primary evidence requirement for compliance with this regulation will be
the documentation and records relating to the procedure any records of
complaints should include the nature of the complaint how it was investigated
including details of any person representing the complainant the
findings of the investigation and the remedial action taken if applicable for
the records to be considered valid each incident should be properly signed by
all parties involved including the complainant verification that the
procedures are being correctly followed and that the records are accurate will
be by confidential interviews with seafarers this will also be used to
verify that each Seafarer has been given a copy of the procedure
in this lesson we have considered the possible evidence that may be required
by port state control in the event of a detailed inspection being found
necessary the main reasons for such a detailed inspection have been identified
as either a lack of valid certification obvious deficiencies or a seafarers
complaint being upheld we have considered evidence to show compliance
with each of the regulations relating to the 14 areas that are considered
mandatory for certification and inspection purposes it should be
remembered however that all requirements of the convention must be met if
compliance is to be achieved port state control inspectors may also check these
other requirements during a detailed inspection in the next lesson we will
look at the possible consequences of deficiencies having been identified
during port state-controlled inspections