20 countries representing 55% of the world’s fleet have already ratified it
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 enters into force 12 months after 30 countries representing 33% of the world’s fleet have ratified the Convention. The status today is that 20 countries representing 55% of the world’s fleet have ratified it. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is still optimistic that the 10 remaining ratifications will be received by the end of this year or in early 2012.
When the Convention enters into force, all ships of 500 GT and above in international trade will need to hold a valid MLC Certificate and a corresponding Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance (DMLC).
All other ships will need to be inspected, but there are no MLC certification requirements for such ships.
The number of ships to be inspected is estimated by Lloyd’s Academy to be around 65,000. No doubt this will generate a long queue of ships to be certified within the limited time period. In order to avoid such a certification rush, some Administrations are introducing a voluntary certification scheme prior to the entry into force of the Convention.
This is currently the case with Marshall Islands and Liberia, which have published their DMLC Part I (and through that their national legislation implementing the MLC 2006) and in which they encourage such a voluntary certification scheme. Each owner has to apply the relevant Administration for a ship specific DMLC Part I, before they can prepare their DMLC Part II and proceed with the certification process. We have reason to believe that more flag states will introduce similar voluntary schemes and we strongly recommend our customers to utilise such schemes.
Even though many shipowners may already have some of the MLC requirements in place through their ISM systems, experience has shown that some issues still need to be addressed and implemented in order to achieve full compliance with the Convention’s and flag states’ specific requirements. It should also be kept in mind that some of these issues, like:
- Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA)
- Seafarers’ Employment Agreements (SEA)
- Clarifying specific requirements for special ships
- Clarifying the definition of a seafarer
- Ensuring crewing agents operate in compliance with the Convention
may be time-consuming tasks and should be properly planned for in order to be in compliance before the Convention enters into force.
The figure below indicates possible steps in the process of having ships certified. It also indicates the time required for the different tasks. Based on DNV’s experience this process may take up to 6 months.
Source: DNV