A two-day Masterclass on the topic ‘Difficulties faced in Implementation of MLC’ was held by The Company of Master Mariners of India (CMMI) by eminent Faculty Members, including Adv. Captain Rahul Varma, Captain Amol Deshmukh & Mr. Neti Viswanath on 27^th & 28^th August. The masterclass saw participants who were a mix of people from marine training, manning, and sailing backgrounds.

Neti Viswanath threw light on the background of the Maritime Convention 2016, and how it started. He said, “The governing body of ILO held the conference in Geneva. The main content of the meeting was to have a single coherent instrument body as per up-to-date standards for labor as found in ILO, which focuses on decent working conditions for the workers in the maritime industry onboard the ship. The MLC convention article 10 included all the agendas of the previous conventions to form MLC 2006.”

There are an estimated 16,47,500 seafarers in international trade from across China, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine. The top ship-owning nations are from the countries Greece, Japan, China, Singapore, the USA, and DEU. MLC 2006 brings comprehensive fundamental rights to the 1.5 million seafarers.

Mr Viswanath highlighted the purpose of MLC 2006, which is to consolidate the existing ILO Maritime conventions and to recruit, motivate, develop and retain qualified people in the maritime industry. Preventing poor working and living conditions, and creating a level playing field, MLC is intended to be globally applicable, easily understandable, readily updatable, and uniformly enforced. MLC 2006 certification and declaration is applicable to all ships. It applies to 500 GT or over ships engaged in international voyages, or flying the flag member and operating from a port or between ports in another country.

Mr Viswanath highlighted key regulations as articles stressing on the working and living conditions of seafarers, which must be inspected and approved by the flag state before certifying a ship. There are 4 Regulations with basic requirements including a Minimum Age, Medical Certificate, Basic Training & Certifications, and Recruitment and Placement Procedures.

He explained saying, “The Minimum age for employment for seafarers is 16 -18, which is only for internship and it should not have any dangerous activities onboard. A Medical certificate must be issued by a duly qualified medical practitioner and duly valid and approved by DG shipping. The seafarer should have the basic training and certifications and should be employed through proper Recruitment and placement procedures. Seafarers’ employment agreements must be given to them on the ship signed duly by both the shipping owner and the seafarer.”

MLC 2006 articles and regulations also deal with various issues like Minimum Requirements for Seafarers to wages on a Ship, Conditions of Employment, Accommodation and Recreational Facilities, Food and catering onboard a ship, Health protection, medical care on board and ashore, welfare and social security, financial security and compliance and reinforcement, Entitlement to leave, and shipowner’s liability.

The presentation gave important insights on the Ship owner’s liability which says, Seafarers, have a right to material assistance and support from the shipowner with respect to financial consequences of sickness, injury, or death. Shipowners are liable to defray the expense of medical care, including medical treatment and supply of necessary medicines and treatments on board and onboard complaint procedures.

The presentation was followed by a discussion which brought to notice various situations- like if a seafarer expires on the ship, under contract then, in that case, the seafarer’s family is entitled to compensation, they can contact the insurance company which helps them to claim the wages. In case seafarers are held captive on a vessel, in spite of the fact that the contract has expired, in that case, they still need to be paid wages. In case a seafarer refuses to sign the extension or contract but wants to work on board, the master can put it across to the administration to keep all records and documents to take the decision. Just in case the seafarer does not want to work and wants to resign and leave the ship, they can claim to the insurance company that can assist them with repatriation and claiming wages. In case of any incident or injury on board seafarers must take an incident report. Thus, the MLC helps both the ship owners and the seafarers.

Captain Amol Deshmukh, Master Mariner, Advocate, LLM (Maritime Law) gave a presentation on “Financial security under MLC- P&I perspective and legal challenges”. He gave an overview of how MLC covers Seafarers ‘Abandonment by Ship owners under MNC and its triggers’, Key features, and what are covers available.  He also highlighted the situations wherein the ship owner fails to cover the cost of repatriation, seafarers are left without necessary maintenance and support, and cases wherein the ship owner fails to pay contractual wages for a period of 2 months. He also threw light on the financial security systems and provisions and key features for Abandonment and contractual claims, Direct access to FS providers, expedited financial assistance, subrogation of rights, right of recourse against third parties, and National Laws.

Capt Deshmukh also explained the concepts like responsibilities of the Flag state to cover outstanding wages and other entitlements, repatriation, emergency actions, essential needs of the seafarers, period of cover along with latest amendments to cover the loss due to hijacked vessels, and challenges faced by seafarers onboard with interesting case studies.

DAY 2

Mr. Vishwanath continued his presentation by highlighting the Certification Processes of Audit and how the Indian Administration is trying to create an audit of vessels, in order to take an interim audit to be carried on board. He also showcased who are the seafarers according to 2006, depending on what kind of a contract he has with the ship to determine if he is a seafarer or not.

Adv. Captain Rahul Varma, a practicing Maritime lawyer gave interesting insights on “Criminalization of seafarers and how to deal with it. He began by saying, “Today our maritime force is very big in number and we have a lot of Indians in high profile jobs. Criminalization is to be taken very seriously, for me it starts from the fact that a Master has to upfront an authority to offer bribery to get the ship cleared and so they need to know the laws, and empowering themselves is very important. If you don’t know your rights you cannot protect your rights. Take interest in what you are going to deliver and how the law works and also educate your crews and juniors about the rights of seafarers. There is a lot of pressure on the masters to keep running the ship and making profits. It is necessary that all seafarers are protected from the violation of labor rights.”

Capt Varma presented a hypothesis based on various maritime incidents and the reasons for criminalization. He explained, “There are situations when many flags are involved for a ship, but the jurisdiction of the local flag works where the locals have been affected the most with the situation due to a vessel in case of a maritime accident or environmental damage. Foreign crew may not be aware of local criminal laws and may not have been warned, which puts them at risk of committing an offense without knowledge or intent.

Capt Varma further highlighted on various instances of criminalization of seafarers, Human rights for seafarers, Ramification of Criminalization, local seafarer and labor unions and rights of the seafarers against criminalization.

Capt Varma concluded his presentation with a detailed explanation of the Key Rights to Criminalization for seafarers which include the Rights to free legal representation, Rights to Interpretation of services, Rights to seafarers for legal interpretations during pre-trial proceedings, Rights to seafarers to communicate confidentially with his lawyer, preservation of basic human rights, right to fair treatment, right to remain silent, etc.

The Masterclass concluded with Captain Kaustubh Pradhan, Dy. Master CMMI, launching a feedback poll to the Masterclass, which was duly filled in and returned by the participants.

Marex Media