Preface

This fifth edition of the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 – Frequently Asked Questions has been prepared in December 2019 by the International Labour Standards Department of the International Labour Office.

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended, (MLC, 2006), was adopted by the 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) on 23 February 2006. The MLC, 2006 entered into force on 20 August 2013 and, as of May 2022, has been ratified by 101 countries representing more than 96 per cent of the world gross tonnage of ships.

Since 2006, both interest and experience with the MLC, 2006 has grown. In 2012, in order to help promote greater ownership of the MLC, 2006 among ILO constituents and also to facilitate the understanding of the Convention, the International Labour Office prepared an online electronic database of answers to “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ), which was also prepared in the form of an ILO paper publication. It was intended to be an easily accessible source of information that would be regularly updated. The FAQ aim to help persons engaged in the study or application of the MLC, 2006 to find answers to questions they have about this innovative ILO Convention.

It must be noted that the answers provided in the FAQ cannot in themselves be cited as authoritative legal opinions. The answers in the FAQ are intended to provide information in the form of brief explanations referring to the Convention and other reference materials. They are not legal opinions or legal advice as to the meaning of a requirement in the Convention or its application to an individual situation. Such opinions can be provided by the ILO to governments and shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations, in particular, upon request and on the understanding that only the International Court of Justice is competent to give authoritative interpretations of international labour Conventions.

Finally, it is intended that the MLC, 2006 FAQ online database will be updated from time to time and subsequent editions/revisions will be published to reflect these updates.

Acknowledgements

This fifth edition of the FAQ has been prepared under the direction of Corinne Vargha, Director of the International Labour Standards Department of the International Labour Office. It updates the text of the previous editions, which have been established by special advisers to the ILO on the MLC, 2006, Mr Dominick Devlin and Dr Moira L. McConnell, under the leadership of the former Director of the International Labour Standards Department, Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry. Special thanks to Mr Alexandre Charbonneau, Ms Federica Ninni and Ms Beatriz Vacotto for their work on the fifth edition as well as to Eliane Willman, who managed the editing and processing of the publication.