Seaworthiness AND New Amendments to MLC by Dr (Capt) Vivek Jain

The new amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention (“MLC”) 2006 would come into force on 23^rd December 2024.

In the case of Cheikh Boutros Selim El-Khoury v Ceylon Shipping Lines Ltd (The Madeleine) [1967] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 224, 241, the ship did not possess a deratisation certificate or an exemption certificate and Roskill J stated that:

 There was here an express warranty of seaworthiness and unless the ship was timeously delivered in a seaworthy condition, including the necessary certificate from the port health authority, the charterers had the right to cancel. That right, in my judgment, they possessed, and I think that the umpire was wrong in holding that they did not possess it

In another case, Alfred C Toepfer Schiffahrtsgesellschaft GmbH v Tossa Marine Co Ltd (The Derby) [1985] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 325, where lack of ITF blue card rendered the vessel unseaworthy. In a recent case of Seagate Shipping Ltd v Glencore International AG (The Silver Constellation) [2008] EWHC 1904 (Comm); [2008] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 440, the absence of Rightship approval also rendered the vessel unseaworthy.

This means that the ship owners/registered owners need to fulfil the requirements of the following amendments to ensure their MLC certificates remain satisfactory. Following are the key amendments to the MLC 2006:

      I.        It is now mandatory that seafarers that prior to or in the process of their engagement they are told of their rights under the system of financial protection established by private recruitment and placement agencies to compensate seafarers for monetary losses. (Regulation 1.4 – Recruitment and Placement)

    II.        Additional protection to seafarers by amending Regulation 2.5.1, para 9 that requires MLC states to facilitate prompt repatriation of seafarers overriding any national requirement for stranded seafarers to remain on vessels. (Regulation 2.5 – Repatriation)

   III.        Ship owners should provide internet to seafarers at a reasonable cost to improve mental health by ensuring social connectivity. Similarly, members states must also provide the same to seafarers on board ships in their ports and anchorages. (Regulations 3.1 and 4.4 – Accommodation and Recreational Facilities)

  IV.        Seafarers must be provided with free good quality drinking water must be available on and meals must also be balanced. The supplies of food and drinking water will be inspected in relation to their quantity, quality, nutritional value, quality and variety. (Regulation 3.2 – Food and Catering)

   V.        Seafarers must be entitled to get access by member states to prompt medical care ashore in case of serious injury or disease and are not prevented from disembarking for public health reasons. They would not be denied access like it happened during COVID. Member States are also obliged to facilitate the repatriation (by the shipowner) of the body or ashes of seafarers who have died on board. (Regulation 4.1, Medical care on board ship and ashore)

  VI.        Seafarers must be provided with appropriately sized personal protective equipment. This amendment was needed in part due to the increasing number of female seafarers onboard vessels. (Regulation 4.3 – Health and Safety Protection and Accident Prevention)

 VII.        Deaths of seafarers must be recorded and reported by Member States annually to the ILO, for publication in a global register. (Regulation 4.3 – Health and Safety Protection and Accident Prevention)