Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958 (No. 108) - Mauritius (Ratification: 1969)

Article 2 of the Convention. Seafarers’ identity documents. In its previous observation, noting the Government’s statement that the basic requirements of the Convention were still not implemented in law or practice, the Committee urged the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the process for the issuance of seafarers’ identity documents (SIDs) resumed in 2016. The Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping is currently working on the review of the “Continuous Discharge Book” and is exploring the possibility of incorporating the features laid down in the Convention in the new format of the “Continuous Discharge Book”. The Committee recalls that it has been expressing concerns for a number of years regarding the discontinuation of the issuance of SIDs, which is a serious failure on the part of the Government in implementing the Convention. The Committee therefore urges once again the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that its obligations under the Convention are fully respected and to provide a specimen (not a copy) of the seafarers’ identity document once it has been issued.