Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Repatriation of Seafarers Convention (Revised), 1987 (No. 166) - Guyana (Ratification: 1996)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 1(4) of the Convention. Definition of the term “seafarer”. The Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to the provisions of the Shipping Act (No. 7 of 1998) on repatriation which apply to seamen – as defined in section 2(2)(q) of the Act – but not to masters and apprentices, offering therefore more limited coverage than that envisaged by the Convention. The Committee recalls that the Convention is meant to apply to any person employed in any capacity on board a seagoing ship and further recalls also that the term “seafarer” is defined in practically identical terms in Article II(1)(f) of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), which revises Convention No. 166 as well as 36 other international maritime labour Conventions, and which contains in Regulation 2.5, Standard A2.5 and Guideline B2.5 the most up-to-date provisions on seafarers’ entitlement to repatriation. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to take all necessary action to ensure that masters and apprentices are not excluded from the scope of sections 188–213 of the Shipping Act with respect to repatriation and to keep the Office informed of any progress made. In addition, the Committee notes that ensuring compliance with Convention No. 166 would facilitate the implementation of the corresponding requirements of the MLC, 2006, and therefore strongly encourages the Government to take appropriate steps towards the early ratification and effective implementation of the MLC, 2006.