Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 1980)

The Committee notes the observations submitted in 2005 by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in relation to the first report communicated by the Government of the United Kingdom on the application of the Protocol to this Convention.

In its observations, the TUC expressed concerns about the United Kingdom’s application of ratified ILO Conventions to United Kingdom ships. It asserted that the only body of primary legislation that applies to all UK merchant ships and all seafarers serving thereon is the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, which contained little in the way of social or employment protection, particularly for non-resident seafarers. The TUC further claimed that the United Kingdom did not regulate the social conditions including working conditions of seafarers on UK ships trading wholly or mainly outside of UK territorial waters, nor of those seafarers not resident in the United Kingdom, despite the fact that Convention No. 147 (and its Protocol) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea require that this be done for all seafarers on ships registered in the United Kingdom, without providing for exemptions based on residence or geographic location of the vessel. The TUC also maintained that the Convention and its Protocol placed an obligation on the Government to encourage collective bargaining (which it was, in any case, bound to do by virtue of ratification of Convention No. 98), in particular, where the flag State is unable to exercise effective control over ships flying its flag, because it did not extend its legislation to cover seafarers working wholly or mainly outside the United Kingdom or non-residents.

These observations have been transmitted to the Government for any comments it wished to make. In the absence of a reply, the Committee recalls that the Convention indeed applies to all persons employed on board ships registered in the member State’s territory and falling within the scope of Convention No. 147 as defined in Article 1, regardless of their area of operation. The exclusion, in law or in practice, of persons employed on board ship who are not resident in the country of the ship’s registration would normally not be compatible with the good faith application of Convention No. 147 in a country with an open register (including one with an off-shore or international register), where a large proportion of seafarers would actually not be covered (see, for the specific case of social security, paragraph 50 of the Committee’s General Survey of 1990 on labour standards on merchant ships). The Committee asks the Government to provide, having particular regard to the practical application of Article 2, paragraphs (a) and (b), of the Convention, information on the assertions made by the TUC concerning social and employment protection afforded to, and social conditions including working conditions in place for, seafarers on UK ships trading wholly or mainly outside of UK territorial waters or seafarers not resident in the United Kingdom.

As a general comment, the TUC advocated the ratification of the Health Protection and Medical Care (Seafarers) Convention, 1987 (No. 164), and the Repatriation of Seafarers Convention (Revised), 1987 (No. 166). The Committee would appreciate information on the Government’s present position with regard to the recommendation of the TUC.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2008.]