Marine Online
After completing this lesson you will know of the existence of the MLC 2006
and have an overview of the structure of the MLC 2006 and also know the main
responsibilities of the ship's master and senior officers under the MLC 2006
over the past eight decades there have been approximately 70 labor standards
adopted by the International Labour Organization many of these standards
have never been ratified by all of the Member States and some are now
completely outdated the decision was taken in 2001 to review and consolidate
all the existing Labor Standards into a single relevant internationally agreed
and enforced standard this new standard adopted by the International Labour
Organization in 2006 is the maritime labour convention 2006 the convention is
also referred to as MLC 2006 and the seafarers Bill of
Rights the MLC 2006 is seen as the fourth pillar alongside Marple solace
and STCW in regulating the international maritime industry the convention will
enter into force 12 months after ratification by 30 member states with a
total share of at least 33% of world tonnage a five-year action plan was
drawn up to try to ensure an acceptable timeframe for this the convention will
apply to all ships engaged in commercial activities with the following exceptions
the convention does not apply to ships which navigate exclusively in inland
waterways or within or closely adjacent to sheltered waters or areas where port
regulations apply water ships engaged in fishing water ships which are
traditionally built such as dowels and junks or to warships or naval
auxiliaries
as well as consolidating the existing labor conventions and recommendations
there are four main aims of the convention
these are to set minimum standards for seafarers to work on ships and to ensure
they have good working and living conditions the convention addresses
seafarers employment conditions and accommodation standards as well as a
wide range of health welfare and social issues the convention should also have
sufficient flexibility to allow members to adapt their national laws and
regulations which should encourage ship operators and owners to comply with the
requirements of the convention finally the convention should ensure that there
are the necessary procedures for complaints supervision and inspection to
ensure compliance by strengthening enforcement mechanisms at all levels in
achieving these aims the convention should help to improve the quality of
life of seafarers both on board ship and ashore by giving them equal rights to
those enjoyed by workers ashore it should also ensure decent working
conditions and decent living conditions for seafarers on board ship and give
ship owners a level playing field to operate in the overall result of
achieving these aims should be a general increase in the quality of shipping
as you can see there are five elements structure of the convention these are
the preamble the articles
titles the regulations
and finally the two-part code in addition to these five elements
there is also an appendices to the convention
you
there are a number of identified areas of responsibility for the various
parties affected by the convention the International Labor Organization has the
responsibility to ensure that its members fully implement the requirements
of the convention member states have a responsibility to ensure that their
national laws and regulations are adapted to cover the requirements of the
convention they also have the responsibility to appoint a competent
authority to monitor and enforce compliance with the convention this will
normally be achieved through a system of certification at a program of flag
States and port state control inspections carried out by the competent
authority or by recognized organizations appointed by them ship owners and ship
operators have a responsibility to generate policies and procedures which
when properly implemented will ensure compliance with the requirements of the
convention ships masters and on their behalf ships senior officers have the
responsibility to implement the owners policies and procedures in order to
ensure initial and ongoing compliance on board the ships that they sail on the
diagram shows the complex relationship between the various parties affected by
the convention for the rest of this module we will concentrate on the
onboard responsibilities of the master under the convention
the main responsibility of the master MLC 2006 is to operate the vessel in
such a way as to ensure ongoing compliance with the convention this will
mean maintaining compliance with all applicable parts of the convention and
being able to provide evidence of this during flag state and port state
inspections there are a number of areas which have been specifically identified
for inspection and these will be dealt with in the following lessons
in this lesson we have briefly reviewed the aims and structure of the
International labor organizations maritime labour convention 2006 we have
also identified certain areas of responsibility for the parties affected
or involved with operation of the convention there are a number of areas
which have been specifically identified for inspection and these will be dealt
with in the following lessons before moving on to the next lesson you should
complete the following self-test questions to check what you've learned
so far