Seafarers’ views on the impact of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 on their living and working conditions: results from a pilot study

Abstract

Background: The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC2006) entered into force in 2013 and is the first comprehensive set of standards for better living and working conditions covering aspects such as wages, contracts, food, medical care and social security. Currently, the Convention covers more than 90% of the world's shipping fleet. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the MLC2006 on the living and working conditions of seafarers and to test and adjust the methods for future use through a pilot study. This article presents the seafarers' perceived impact of MLC2006. Materials and methods: A mixed-method research approach was used (February to April 2018). The quantitative data of 55 seafarers were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data obtained through a focus group interview and thematic content analysis was applied. Results: Remarkably, one third of the respondents pointed out a complete lack of improvement, while 43.6% stated that the MLC2006 had improved their working and living conditions "somewhat" and only 7.3% "to a great extend". The focus group participants agreed that the MLC2006 did not improve working conditions but mostly increased paperwork. Other issues of concern were the safety on board including safety training, long working hours connected to low manning, food and social difficulties. Conclusions: For Danish seafarers, the MLC2006 did not have a significant impact, as most standards were in place before. It must be further investigated what the MLC2006 achieved for other flag states, especially in the light of its 5-year anniversary. Both methods yielded valuable data. Focus groups are an ideal setting to study the views of seafarers.

COVID-19 and seafarers’ rights to shore leave, repatriation and medical assistance: a pilot study

“…In a pilot study on board Danish flagged vessels in 2018, Danish seafarers opined that MLC did not have any significant impact in their case since most standards were already in place and some were even inferior to those currently implemented. Rather, MLC added to an otherwise heavy burden of administrative tasks, paperwork and checklists [20]. State practice of providing protection to seafarers has been studied from flag, port and coastal state perspective [21], and vulnerability to abuse is higher when serving on board ships flagged in open registries [22].…”

Past, present, and future perspectives of telemedical assistance at sea: a systematic review

“…Accordingly, today's regulates more than 90% of the world's gross tonnage fleet [64]. However, it has not yet been fully applied related to health protection and medical care [65,67,68]. There are limitations related to patient monitoring, medical data sharing, decision making, and personnel training [67].…”

“…However, it has not yet been fully applied related to health protection and medical care [65,67,68]. There are limitations related to patient monitoring, medical data sharing, decision making, and personnel training [67]. This could be explained by the fact that most communication technologies were limited to voice (telephone and radio) and text (email) rather than videoconferencing.…”

The impact of the Maritime Labor Convention on seafarers’ working and living conditions: an analysis of port state control statistics

“…Overall, the introduction of the MLC2006 did not have the predicted effect on PSC deficiencies recorded for WLC or CD. While the large number of ratifications of MLC2006 show that countries are willing to improve seafarers' conditions, especially in ships flying flags of non-ratifying countries, other studies also confirm that the MLC2006 did not have the desired effect on board [16,19]. Several other authors analyzed the impact of the MLC2006 using statistics from PSC inspections [13,16,22,23].…”

“…Others claim the MLC2006 doesn't go far enough and must be revised [17,18]. A recent pilot study came to the conclusion that the MLC2006 radically increased paperwork for many seafarers while failing to adequately address many of the most pressing issues including manning, work and rest hours, food quality and recreational facilities [19]. The Mission to Seafarers publishes quarterly reports on the results of the Seafarers' Happiness Index, which frequently mention the MLC2006 and remaining issues related to its provisions.…”