Tag: ILO Convention

Citizenship Commissioner Avramopoulous presented a 10 point plan of the immediate actions to crisis situation in the Mediterranean

IMO's 102nd Session of its Legal Committee encouraged Member States to give effect to the 2006 Guidelines on fair treatment of seafarers

Recommending revisions to the Annexes to Convention No. 185 A tripartite meeting of experts, including representatives of flag and port States, employers' and workers' organizations and international non-governmental organizations, adopted recommendations in Geneva on 6 February to revise the Annexes to the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185).The Convention is designed to provide seafarers with verifiable identification in order to facilitate their temporary admission into foreign territory for the purposes of shore leave, transit and transfer. It was adopted in 2003, revising the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958 (No. 108), and takes into account modern-day security concerns. The biometric standards and the procedures to be complied with, which are set out in the Annexes to the Convention, aim to ensure an interoperable seafarers' identity document that satisfies national security requirements. Importantly, Convention No. 185 provides for a rapid procedure to amend its Annexes, precisely to enable them to keep pace with technological developments.In light of the advances that have been made concerning border security and identity documents since the adoption of the Convention in 2003, the Governing Body decided at its 320th Session (March 2014) to hold the tripartite meeting, which included maritime and visa experts, to examine ...

CEACR has reviewed a number of first reports from ILO member States that have ratified the MLC

ITF has welcomed progress made at the ILO on the issue of facilitating shore leave

ILO meeting considers possible adjustments to the Seafarers' ID Convention The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is hopeful progress can now be made towards improving the facilitation of shore leave and crew transfers for the world's 1.5 million merchant seafarers, who collectively transport about 90% of world trade. This follows important recommendations by an International Labour Organization (ILO) tripartite meeting of employers, seafarers' unions and governments in Geneva, at which ICS co-ordinated the shipowners' representation.The ILO meeting considered possible adjustments to the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (ILO 185), and outlined a pathway that could bring about improvements to the welfare of seafarers while addressing the legitimate security concerns of governments.ILO 185 requires ratifying nations to issue resident seafarers with Seafarers' Identity Documents (SIDs), and to facilitate the entry of foreign seafarers holding SIDs into their territory for the purposes of shore leave, transfer and transit. However, since its adoption in 2003, the Convention has failed to achieve widespread implementation, in large part because the technical standards adopted have been superseded by the technologies and infrastructure now used for the issuance and verification of ePassports.Last week's meeting brought together governments and the ILO Social Partners' in order to consider ...

ILO to hold an international meeting to advise on recognition of Seafarers Identity Documents

Maritime occupational safety experts agree on guidelines to bolster MLC 2006 Recognizing the special needs of seafarers, experts have agreed on guidelines to assist governments to implement occupational safety and health provisions previously set down in the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006).Intended to provide supplementary practical information to be reflected in national laws and other measures, the OSH guidelines deal with the special maritime working environment. This includes demanding physical working conditions, potentially hazardous tasks, isolation, long hours of work, rigid organizational structures and high levels of stress and fatigue."We are very pleased with the outcome of the work of the expert meeting this week. We believe in promoting compliance with the MLC and the new guidelines that we have agreed will make an effective contribution to this," said Tim Springett, Vice-Chairman for the Employers' Group.The guidelines were discussed by a total of 102 delegates, including, six government, six shipowner and six seafarer experts, observers and advisers from 42 other governments, and observers from intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations.The meeting, held in Geneva from 13-17 October, addressed all areas of seafarers' occupational safety and health, including such areas as alcohol and drug abuse, violence and harassment, and infectious diseases. ...

ILO marks one year since the Maritime Labour Convention entered into force

ILO MLC: Medical Care Ship's Doctors