The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) is an International Labour Organization convention established in 2006 as

the fourth pillar of international maritime law and embodies "all up-to-date standards of existing international maritime
labour Conventions and Recommendations, as well as the fundamental principles to be found in other international
labour Conventions".[3]
The convention entered into force on 20 August 2013, one year after registering 30 ratifications of
Content and organization[edit]
The convention consists of the sixteen articles containing general provisions as well as the Code. The Code consists
of five Titles in which specific provisions are grouped by standard (or in Title 5: mode of enforcement):

Title 1: Minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship

Title 2: Conditions of employment

Title 3: Accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering

Title 4: Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection

Title 5: Compliance and enforcement

For Each Title, there are general Standards, which are further specified in mandatory Regulations (list A) as well
as Guidelines (List B). Guidelines generally form a form of implementation of a Regulation according to the
requirements, but States are free to have different implementation measures. Regulations should in principle be
implemented fully, but a country can implement a "substantially equivalent" regulation, which it should declare upon
ratification.
Some seafarers criticize the convention, saying that it lacks teeth, does not address real issues, and skirts important
seafarer needs such as decent sized cabins, cupboards in cabins, shore leave, and rest hours by including them into
Guidelines (List B) of the conventionor worse, by not addressing them at all.[5]

Title 1: Minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship[edit]

Minimum age requirements: the mimimum age is 16 years (18 for night work and work in hazardous areas).

Medical fitness: workers should be medically fit for the duties they are performing. Countries should issue
medical certificates as defined in the STCW(or use a similar standard).

Training: Seafarers should be trained for their duties as well as have had a personal safety training.

Recruitment/placement services located in member states or for ships flying the flag of member states
should have (amongst others) proper placement procedures, registration, complaint procedures and
compensation if the recruitment fails

Title 2: Employment conditions[edit]

Contracts: the contract should be clear, legally enforceable and incorporate collective bargaining
agreements (if existent).

Payments: Wages should be paid at least every month, and should be transferrable regularly to family if so
desired.

Rest hours: rest hours should be implemented in national legislation. The maximum hours of work in that
legislation should not exceed 14 hours in any 24-hour period and 72 hours in any seven-day period, or: at least
ten hours of rest in any 24-hour period and 77 hours (rest) in any seven-day period. Furthermore, the daily hours
of rest may not be divided into more than two periods and, at least six hours of rest should be given
consecutively in one of those two periods.

Leave: Seafarers have a right to annual leave as well as shore leave.

Repatriation: Returning to their country of residence should be free

Loss: If a ship is lost or foundered, the seafarers have a right to an unemployment payments.

Manning: Every ship should have a sufficient manning level

Title 3: Accommodation, Recreational Facilities, Food and CATERNG

Accommodation: Accommodation for living and/or working should be "promoting the seafarers' health and
well-being". Detailed provisions (in rules and guidelines) give minimum requirements for various types of rooms
(mess rooms, recreational rooms, dorms etc.).

Food and Catering: Both food quality and quantity, including water should be regulated in the flag state.
Furthermore, cooks should have proper training.

Title 4: Health Protection, Medical Care, Welfare and Social Security

Medical care on board ship and ashore: Seafarers should be covered for and have access to medical care
while on board; in principle at no cost and of a quality comparable to the standards of health care on shore.
Countries through which territory a ship is passing should guarantee treatment on shore in serious cases.

Shipowners' liability: Seafarers should be protected from the financial effects of "sickness, injury or death
occurring in connection with their employment". This includes at least 16 weeks of payment of wages after start
of sickness.

Health and safety protection and accident prevention: A safe and hygienic environment should be provided
to seafarers both during working and resting hours and measures should be taken to take reasonable safety
measures.

Access to shore-based welfare facilities: Port states should provide "welfare, cultural, recreational and
information facilities and services" and to provide easy access to these services. The access to these facilities
should be open to all seafarers irrespective of race, sex, religion or political opinion.

Social security: Social security coverage should be available to seafarers (and in case it is customary in the
flag state: their relatives).

Title 5: Compliance and Enforcement[edit]

Flag states: Flag states (the state under which flag the ship operates) are responsible for ensuring
implementation of the rules on the ships that fly its flag. Detailed inspections result in the issue of a "Certificate of
Maritime Compliance", which should always be present (and valid) on a ship. Ships are required to have decent
complaints procedures in place for its crew and should institute investigations in case of casualties.

Port States: The inspection in ports depends on whether a Certificate of Maritime Compliance is present
(and thus a flag is flown of a country which has ratified the convention). If the Certificate is present, compliance
is to be assumed in principle, and further investigations only take place if the certificate is not in order or there
are indications of non-compliance. For ships that don't have the certificate, inspections are much more detailed

and should ensure -according to a "no more favorable treatment principle"[6] that the ship has complied with the
provisions of the convention. The convention is thus -indirectly- also valid for ships of non-member countries if
they plan to call to ports of a member state.

Labour agencies: Agencies supplying on maritime workers to ships should also be inspected to ensure that
they apply the convention (amongst others the regulations regarding to social security).