C2.1.f. Can the employer of a seafarer supplying a seafarer to the ship sign the seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA) as the shipowner?

The term “shipowner” is defined comprehensively in Article II, paragraph 1(j) of the MLC, 2006 as “… the owner of the ship or another organization or person, such as the manager, agent or bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners in accordance with this Convention, regardless of whether any other organizations or persons fulfil certain of the duties or responsibilities on behalf of the shipowner” [see B14.].

The intention of the drafters of the MLC, 2006 was that there could only be one person – namely, “the shipowner” – who assumes, vis-à-vis each seafarer, all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the Convention on the shipowner. While another person supplying a seafarer to the ship may have concluded an employment contract with that seafarer and be responsible for implementing that contract, including payment of wages, for example, the shipowner will still have the overall responsibility vis-à-vis the seafarer. Such an employer could therefore only sign the SEA as a representative of the shipowner (assuming that the employer has a signed power of attorney from the shipowner) or in addition to the shipowner [see C2.1.i.].

Seafarers’ employment agreements