Labour

ILO, IMO, others call for urgent measures to protect seafarers’ rights

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4 years ago

United Nations (UN) leaders, under a joint initiative by the UN Global Compact, the UN Human Rights Office, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), have urged companies relying on shipping supply chains to undertake urgent measures to protect seafarers’ rights.

The human rights due diligence tool is aimed to help businesses uphold their responsibility to protect human rights at sea as new COVID -19 variants threaten to further delay crew changes.

Under the initiative, the wide-ranging human rights checklist was issued to business enterprises engaged with the maritime industry to protect seafarers stranded on ships due to new COVID-19 variants and government-imposed travel restrictions.

The human rights due to diligence tool for cargo owners and charterers have been issued amid concerns that the number of the crew stranded working beyond their contracts at sea by COVID-19 restrictions could surge from the current level of 200,000, potentially returning to the peak of 400,000 seafarers at the height of the crew change crisis in September 2020.

The UN agencies believe that the new guidance will help ensure that the working conditions and human rights of seafarers are respected and comply with international standards.

The new guidance aims to ensure that seafarers have their rights safeguarded in areas such as physical and mental health, access to family life and freedom of movement.

While recognizing the importance of the maritime industry in transporting more than 80 per cent of global trade goods, the UN agencies have expressed concern at reports of seafarers working beyond the 11-month maximum limit of service on board set out by the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).

The agencies have also expressed strong concern at reports that companies engaged in international trade are avoiding chartering vessels where a crew change is due, with some demanding ‘no crew change’ clauses in charter party agreements, preventing needed crew changeovers and adding further pressure on the maritime industry.

The Executive Director and CEO, UN Global Compact said: “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility of global supply chains as seafarers continue to endure tremendous, and yet largely invisible, hardship and suffering. The maritime industry is responsible for transporting over 80 per cent of global trade goods and so it must ensure it builds resilience to future shocks.

“The mental and physical wellbeing of seafarers must be a priority and this tool is an important step in building awareness of how to address human rights abuses in the maritime sector. It sends a powerful message of the importance of incorporating maritime workers in due diligence mapping to ensure that adverse human rights impacts are identified, prevented, mitigated and addressed.”

Also, the Director-General of ILO, Guy Rider, said: “As the ILO Committee of Experts said in its general observation last December, it is precisely at times of crisis that the protective coverage of the MLC, 2006, assumes its full significance and needs to be most scrupulously applied.

“This is even more so given that the convention contains only minimum standards for the protection of seafarers’ rights. The ILO has urged governments to ensure the protection of seafarers’ rights, and welcomes this initiative that will help businesses to play their part in this collective effort”.

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