As of the 1st of September till the 30th of November 2024 the Paris MoU and the Tokyo MoU will start a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CiC) to create awareness within the shipping industry about the requirements of the Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 (MLC,2006) and to verify that ships comply with these requirements. This campaign will focus on Seafarer Employment Agreements (SEA) as well as the crew wages and will be additional to the regular inspections.
For these inspections it is, among other things, important that the allotments and wage payments comply with the requirements of the crew contract, that wage payments are made at no greater than monthly intervals and all seafarers have a copy of their crew contract available to them. Next to this the master should be able to access all the required documents in order to show them during the inspection. For the CiC the following 10 questions will be used:
- Is the Seafarers’ Employment Agreement signed by both the seafarer and the shipowner or a representative of the shipowner?
- Is the seafarer able to access information regarding their employment conditions on board?
- Are standard forms of SEAs and parts of any applicable collective bargaining agreements, subject to Port State Control (PSC) inspections under Reg. 5.2, available in English?
- Does the SEA include all the required elements specified in the MLC 2006 Standard?
- Do particulars included in the Seafarer’s Employment Agreement comply with MLC, 2006 requirements?
- Are wage or salary payments made to the seafarer at no greater than monthly intervals?
- Have seafarers been given a status of accounts and wages paid on at least a monthly basis?
- Are wage or salary payments in accordance with any applicable CBA or SEA?
- If payments made to a seafarer include deductions, are they in accordance with the MLC Convention?
- Is a certificate or documentary evidence of financial security, issued by the financial security provider, available on board in the event of compensation for death, long-term disability and repatriation?
NB: Not meeting the requirements of one of the questions may be a reason for the authorities to detain the vessel.
The press release of the Paris MoU concerning the CiC and the questionnaire can be found here: Paris & Tokyo MoU Press release
For any questions or comments on this topic, please contact us at underwriting@nnpc.nl or by phone at +31 (0)50 534 3211.
