Philippines must prioritize ratification of Maritime Labour Convention of 2006 (MLC2006)

It is now  incumbent upon the Philippine government to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006 (MLC2006) in order that it will be one of the thirty ratifying countries required  for the convention  to take effect. 

With the recent deposit to the ILO  of the ratification documentsof the MLC 2006  by Australia last December 14, 2011   , 22  member States of the International Labour Organization (ILO)  have now ratified this important Convention, which sets out minimum standards and fair working conditions for seafarers worldwide. While the first requirement for entry into  force of the Convention – coverage of 33 per cent of the world gross tonnage – has already been attained, Singapore’s ratification is an important step towards achieving the second requirement: 30 ratifying countries. It is expected that the additional 8 ratifications will be obtained before the end of 2011, indicating that the MLC, 2006 will enter into force in 2012.

The convention was already ratified by  22 countries/ states, to wit: Liberia  (June 7,2006), Marshall Islands  (September 25, 2007 ), Bahamas (February 11,2008), Panama (February 6, 2009), Norway (February 10, 2009) , Bosnia and Herzegovina  (January 18, 2010) , Spain (February 4, 2010), Croatia  (February 12, 2010) , Bulgaria (April 12, 2010) , Canada (June 15,  2010),Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (November 9, 2010) , Switzerland (February 2, 2011), Gabon (May 12, 2011) Benin (June 13, 2011), and Singapore ( June 15, 2011). Denmark (June 23, 2011)  Latvia (August 12, 2011)_ Antigua and Barbuda (August 11, 2011)  , the Government of Luxembourg (19 September 2011),  Kiribati (24 October 2011) Netherlands (December 2011) Australia (14 December 2011)

It is an important new Convention that was adopted by the International Labour Conference of the ILO at a maritime session in February 2006 in Geneva, Switzerland. It sets out seafarers’ rights to decent conditions of work and helps to create conditions of fair competition for shipowners. It is intended to be globally applicable, easily understandable, readily updatable and uniformly enforced. The MLC , 2006 has been designed to become a global legal instrument that, once it enters into force, will be the the “fourth pillar” of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) such as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS), the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, 1978, as amended (STCW) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 73/78 (MARPOL).  Between 1920 and 1996, a total of 39 Conventions, 29 Recommendations and one Protocol concerning seafarers have been adopted by the ILO.

The  MLC  contains a comprehensive set of global standards, based on those that are already found in 68 maritime labor instruments. It modernizes the global  standards to: (a) set minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship; (b) address conditions of employment, accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering, health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection; (c) promote compliance by operators and owners of ships by giving governments sufficient flexibility to implement its requirements in a manner best adapted to their individual laws and practices; and (d) strengthen enforcement mechanisms at all levels, including provisions for complaint procedures available to seafarers, shipowners’ supervision of conditions on their ships, the flag States’ jurisdiction and control over their ships, and port State inspections of foreign ships.

The new Convention will likely  achieve the aim of near universal ratification because the Convention was adopted by a record vote of 314 in favour and none against (two countries abstained for reasons unrelated to the substance of the Convention), after nearly two weeks of detailed review by over 1,000 participants drawn from 106 countries.

Countries that ratify the Convention will require ship owners to put the standards in place before allowing seafarers aboard. And ratifying countries will have the right to inspect vessels for compliance before port calls are allowed. The Convention gives these countries the right to deny ships that are not compliant from sailing onwards. This applies to ships regardless whether the countries they are registered in have ratified the Convention or not.

The Philippines will definitely be one of the major beneficiaries of this convention.   The Philippines is considered as the major supplier of maritime labor globally. Per Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data, there were 330,424 Filipino seafarers deployed abroad in 2009 comprising almost 30 percent of the global maritime labor force. Although the number of deployed Filipino seafarers has decreased from 2006 (274,497), 2007 (266,553) to 2008 (261,614), the dollar remittances have been constantly  increasing from US$1.9B in 2006, US$2.2B in 2007 , US$3B in 2008, US$3.4B in 2009 to US$3.8B in 2010. . On the other hand, the Philippines as a flag State has a registered fleet comprising around 1.4% of total world tonnage.

Given the vast Philippine coast line (twice the size of the United States and nearly three times more than China), Filipinos have natural maritime instincts that place them at an advantage over other nationalities. Foreign shipowners are known to prefer Filipino seafarers for equally important qualities: dedication and discipline, industry, flexibility, loyalty, English language fluency, adaptability, positive work attitude, law-abiding, and problem-solving capability.

The Philippines can benefit from ratifying the Convention as a labour supplying state, flag or port state. The maritime labour convention is a good reference point for the Philippine’s formulation of laws and policies responsive to the conditions and contexts of seafarers. Ratification can serve as basis for technical assistance.

When the Philippines does ratify the Convention, for example, manning agencies are mandated not to deploy seafarers aboard ships that don’t follow the new Convention. On the other hand, if the Philippines does not ratify, ratifying countries will not allow Filipinos aboard their ships – unless the Philippine government certifies that manning companies are complying with the new standards relating to wages, social security and so on. The disadvantage non-ratification by the Philippines is that shipowners will have to bear the responsibility for checking the Convention’s requirements on the recruitment and placement of the seafarers.

The Philippines is a signatory to the following IMO Conventions

·         Safety of Life at Sea 1960 and 1974 (SOLAS) plus the SOLAS Protocol 1978 and amendments of 1981, 1983 and 1988

• International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREG) (amended 1981)
• Standards of Training, Certification Watch keeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW), amended in 1995
• Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 and Protocol 1978 (MARPOL 73/78)
• Load Lines (1966), plus Protocol 1988
• Safe Containers (1972): amended 1981, 1983
• International Maritime Satellite Organization (1976)
• Maritime Search Rescue (1979)
• Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA Convention)

The Philippines is a signatory to the following ILO  CONVENTIONS which are  maritime in nature:

• No. 7 - Minimum Age for Admission of Children to Employment at Sea, (1920)
• No. 9 - Establishing Facilities for Finding Employment for Seamen (1920)
• No. 22 - Seamen’s Articles of Agreement (1926)
• No. 23 - Repatriation of Seamen ((1926)
• No. 53 - The Minimum Requirement of Professional Capacity for Masters and Officers on Board Merchant Ships (1936)
• No. 55 - Liability of the Shipowner in Case of Sickness, Injury or Death of Seamen (1936)
• No. 56 - Sickness Insurance for Seamen (1936)
• No. 58 - Fixing the Minimum Age for Admission of Children to Employment at Sea (Revised, 1936)
• No. 68 - Food and Catering for Crews on Board Ship (1946)
• No. 69 - Certification of Ships’ cooks (1946)
• No. 71 - Concerning Seafarer’s Pensions (1946)
• No. 73 -  Medical Examination of Seafarers (1946)
• No. 74 - Certification of Able Seamen (1946)
• No. 91 - Vacation Holidays with Pay for Seafarers (Revised 1949)
• No. 92 - Crew Accommodations on Board Ship (Revised 1949)
• No. 108 - Seafarers’ National Identity Documents (1958)
• No. 109 - Wages, Hours of Work on Board Ship and Manning (Revised,  1958)
• No. 133- Crew Accommodations on Board Ship , Supplementary Provisions (1970)
• No. 134 -  Prevention of Occupational Accidents for Seafarers (1970)
• No. 138 - Minimum Age for Employment
• No. 146 - Annual Leave With Pay for Seafarers (1976)
• No. 147 - Minimum Standards in Merchant Ships (1976)
• No. 163- Seafarers’ Welfare at Sea and in Port (1987)
• No. 164 - Health Protection and Medical Care for Seafarers (1987)
• No. 165 - Social Security for Seafarers (1987)
• No. 166 Repatriation of Seafarers (Revised, 1987)
• No. 179 - Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers

The   Philippines   has  likewise  signed   several   bilateral   labor  agreements with 43 countries on the recognition of certificates of Filipino seafarers under the Regulation 1/10 of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 as amended.  

Out of the nine (9) IMO conventions where the Philippines is a signatory, it has ratified only four (4)  conventions, namely  SOLAS, STCW, MARPOL, and SUA. On the other hand, out of the twenty seven (27) ILO conventions, the Philippines has ratified only six (6)  conventions, namely No. 23 - Repatriation of Seamen (1926), No. 53 -Minimum Requirement of Professional Capacity for Masters and Officers on Board Merchant Ships , No. 76 – Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Revised (1949) ; No. 138- Minimum Age for Admission to Employment; No. 165 - Social Security for Seafarers and  No. 179 -Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers, (1996).

As the foremost seafarer-supplying country and a flag State with a registered fleet comprising around 1.4% of total world tonnage, it behooves upon Philippine social partners and stakeholders to determine the passage most beneficial to our national interests. It is now  incumbent upon the Philippine government to ratify MLC2006 in order that it will be one of the thirty ratifying countries required for the convention  to take effect.