Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958 (No. 108) - Malta (Ratification: 1965)

Article 4 of the Convention and Part V of the report form. Form and content of seafarer’s identity document – Practical application. The Committee notes that sections 195-203 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 234) continue to give effect to the main provisions of the Convention. The Committee notes, however, that apart from the “seaman’s card”, the Merchant Shipping Act also provides in section 126 for a “discharge certificate” while in an earlier report a sample “seaman’s record book” was attached. The Committee requests the Government to provide further clarifications as to the different documents attesting the seafarer’s identity and employment record that may be currently in use and to forward specimen copies. In this connection, the Committee requests the Government to refer to the comments made under the Seamen’s Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926 (No. 22). In addition, the Committee requests the Government to supply up-to-date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, statistical information on the number of seamen’s cards issued by the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen during the reporting period, and extracts from inspection reports showing the number and nature of any infringements observed.

Finally, the Committee recalls that Convention No. 108 has been revised by the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185). Convention No. 185 aims to enhance port and border security, while at the same time facilitating the freedom of movement of seafarers, by developing a more secure and globally uniform seafarers’ identity document. The Convention was adopted by the ILO to complement action being taken within the framework of the IMO through the adoption of the International Ship and Port-facility Security Code (ISPS). The Committee therefore invites the Government to examine the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 185 in the near future and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken in this respect.