IMO’s Legal Committee has finalized a new set of guidelines to ensure seafarers are protected against unfair treatment if detained in foreign jurisdictions on suspicion of committing a crime.
The fair treatment of seafarers was high on the agenda of the Legal Committee’s 111st session, which took place from 22 to 26 April at IMO headquarters in London, chaired by Gillian Grant of Canada.
LEG 111 highlights
- Guidelines on the fair treatment of seafarers detained on suspicion of committing crimes finalized
- New Task Force to review abandonment database established
- Fraudulent registration and fraudulent registries of ships - work on due diligence in ship registration continues
- New output on guidelines or best practices on the registration of ships to be developed
- Revised Guidelines for accepting Insurance Companies and Certificates approved
- New information brochure on the Athens Convention approved
- Measures to assess the need to amend liability limits approved
- Autonomous shipping – a roadmap on LEG’s work on MASS approved
- Facilitation of the entry into force of the 2010 HNS Protocol
- Piracy and armed robbery
The guidelines are to be applied where seafarers may be detained in a jurisdiction other than that of the seafarers’ nationality on suspicion of committing crimes during the course of their employment on board a ship. They aim to protect seafarers’ right to due process during investigation and detention by public authorities.
The well-being of seafarers continues to be of great concern to me and to the entire Membership of IMO. The Guidelines will add a significant value in resolving the challenges faced by seafarers and ensure that seafarers are treated fairly.
….in his closing remarks, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said.
The guidelines contain guidance for port States, flag States, coastal States, States of which the seafarer is a national, shipowners and seafarers.
The finalized guidelines will be submitted as a base document to the Joint ILO/IMO Tripartite Working Group to identify and address seafarers’ issues and the human element (JTWG) for further refinement. The JTWG will then submit the guidelines to the Legal Committee and to the ILO Governing Bodies for endorsement.
New task force to review abandonment database
The Committee established a new Task Force to review and update or redevelop the joint ILO/IMO abandonment database, to enhance accuracy and efficiency of the platform.
The ILO/IMO database contains regularly updated information on vessels and seafarers that have been reported as abandoned worldwide. Seafarer abandonment happens when shipowners fail to fulfil obligations to seafarers related to timely repatriation, payment of outstanding wages or salary, and even the provision of basic necessities such as food, accommodation and medical care.
An upgrade of the system would enhance data accuracy and monitoring capabilities and support the swifter resolution of abandonment cases. This will support the implementation of the Guidelines on how to deal with seafarer abandonment cases, adopted at LEG 110.
The Task Force will submit a report to the JTWG, who will then conduct a final review and provide a clear report to the ILO Governing Body and the IMO Legal Committee for endorsement.
LEG 111 outcomes
In addition to the fair treatment of seafarers, the Legal Committee made progress on a number of major issues, including on fraudulent registration and fraudulent registries of ships, autonomous shipping, measures to assess the need to amend liability limits and guidelines for accepting Insurance Companies and Certificates.
Many seafarers are at the discretion of charterers, who demand a lot… operations, and shipowners must comply with their requirements in order not to lose the contract. so many are sent home and can no longer navigate 20 years before retirement, after spending a lot of money on IMO courses and other certificates, also it is a condition to be as young as possible. I thing this is a different kind of abandoned sailors.