With more andmore people joining life at sea and working in the maritime sector, it has become of paramount importance that we concentrate on seafarers’ rights and that’s what the UN and EU are concerned about, reports Safety4Sea.
Workshop To Address Seafarers’ Issues
A workshop organized for this purpose by key UN and European instruments took place in Lisbon Portugal, on 18-20 February. The aim of this recently concluded workshop was to help all stakeholders, particularly, developing countries, build the capacity they need to ratify and implement the MLC.
Key Turning Points in the Workshop
- One of the main aims of the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) is to provide comprehensive protection for seafarers’ rights.
- The meeting, jointly organized by IMO, ILO, European Commission and EMSA, builds on a long history of working together on seafarer issues.
- Although adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO), MLC touches on a wide range of areas that are also of direct relevance to IMO, such as hours of work and rest, entitlement to repatriation, abandonment of seafarers and safe manning.
- A key objective of the workshop is to help strengthen and harmonize flag State compliance, as well as port State control, which is a vital mechanism for ensuring the provisions of the MLC are being properly implemented onboard ships.
- In this regard, IMO funded the participation at the workshop of thirteen developing countries.
- Another is to address financial security and insurance obligations under the MLC, and encourage any deficiencies discovered to be properly reported through the appropriate channels.
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Source: Safety4Sea
