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What is the situation of workers stranded at sea? A resolution adopted by the ILO Governing Body aims at mobilise governments

  • The resolution urges ILO Member States to engage in collaborative actions to identify obstacles to crew changes, and establish time-bound plans to solve this situation
  • In order to facilitate the movement of workers, the resolution suggests to designate seafarers as “key workers”.

Following the serious and concerning situation of seafarers stranded at sea reported in our newsletter in August 2020, on 8 December 2020, the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted a “Resolution concerning maritime labour issues and the COVID-19 pandemic”.  The text of the resolution was presented jointly by the Employers’ and Workers’ Group of the ILO, after negotiations took place between the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

The resolution emphasizes the crucial role that international shipping and seafarers play in maintaining global supply chains, delivering 90 per cent of goods, including essential medical supplies, food, and energy, and recalls that the ILO Special Tripartite Committee of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) had urged the International Labour Office (that is the Secretariat of the ILO), on 31 March 2020, to raise awareness among governments that seafarers should be treated with dignity and respect to ensure that they can continue to provide their vital services to the world. 

The resolution follows the numerous appeals made by the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN General Assembly Resolution of 1st December 2020, the United Nations Specialized Agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system, and the international community to support ships in continuing operations, to secure that ports remain open and cross border trade continue to flow in order to ensure the integrity of global supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The text stresses the concern over a situation that still affects hundreds of thousands of seafarers, who require immediate repatriation as they are beyond their original tours of duty, in some cases for more than 17 consecutive months and often without access to shore-based leave and/or medical treatment, and that a similar number of seafarers urgently need to join ships to replace them.  

The resolution notes in this context the importance of the Recommended framework of protocols for ensuring safe ship crew changes and travel during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, that is the result of a social dialogue process by a broad cross section of global industry associations representing the maritime transportation sector.

In the light of the above the ILO member States are urged to: 

  • engage, in consultation with social partners, in collaborative actions to identify obstacles to crew changes, and establish and implement measurable, time-bound plans to ensure safe crew change and travel of seafarers; 
  • allow for the possibility of designating seafarers as “key workers”, for the purpose of facilitation of safe and unhindered movement for embarking or disembarking a vessel, and the facilitation of shore leave, and when necessary, to shore-based medical treatment; 
  • consider temporary measures including waivers, exemptions or other changes to visa or documentary requirements that might normally apply to seafarers. 

IOE fully supports this Resolution and the efforts by shipowner and seafarer organisations and governments to address the crisis. it will continue advocating for international cooperation to put an end to the plight of hundreds of thousands of seafarers trapped at sea.  

In addition to the resolution, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations recently issued a general observation with regards to the respect, in law and in practice of the MLC, providing that seafarers have a right to be repatriated at the end of their employment agreement. The Committee “strongly encourages ratifying States in their different capacities as flag States, port States or labour-supplying States who have not yet done so, to recognize seafarers as key workers without delay and to draw in practice the consequences of such qualification, in order to restore the respect of their rights as provided for in the MLC, 2006”. 

The International Shipping Federation, the organisation representing the maritime employers, commented the Experts’ observation as follows: “We welcome the intervention from the ILO Committee of Experts in spelling out how governments have failed in their obligations. The Committee is unequivocal in its critique on the lack of required cooperation by governments. It criticises States for allowing the situation to persist for so long. 

But it also explains how together we can fix this. This is one of the most direct and effective Experts’ observations we’ve seen. Once again a roadmap has been laid out for how to resolve this humanitarian crisis and return to a normally functioning crew change system that the world’s supply chains can rely on. It’s up to governments to get on with implementing that roadmap and urgently prioritise seafarers as key workers for Covid-19 vaccines as a clear demonstration of compliance with this finding”.