B5. When is a ship considered to be “ordinarily engaged in commercial activities”?

The MLC, 2006 does not have a definition of the phrase “ordinarily engaged in commercial activities”, used in Article II, paragraph 4 [see B4.]. This would be a matter for good faith determination by the country concerned, and subject to the usual oversight role taken by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations under the ILO supervisory system 42 .

42 Information about the ILO’s supervisory system is available on the ILO website under the heading “Labour standards”, and the links under the subheading “Applying and promoting international labour standards” at www.ilo.org/normes.


Questions about the workers and the ships covered by the MLC, 2006