On 22 October 1996, the International Labour Conference, meeting in Geneva at its 84th (Maritime) Session, which had opened on 8 October, adopted the Labour Inspection (Seafarers) Convention, 1996 (No. 178). The vote was 205 in favour, one against and 10 abstentions. The preamble frames it as a convention for flag State implementation only, not port State control; that remains under the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147). The English and French texts are equally authoritative.

Article 1 covers seagoing ships, publicly or privately owned, registered in the territory of a Member for which the Convention is in force and engaged in the commercial carriage of cargo or passengers or any other commercial purpose. A ship on two registers is deemed registered in the Member whose flag it flies. Seagoing tugs are included. Ships under 500 gross tonnage are excluded, as are, when not engaged in navigation, vessels such as oil rigs and drilling platforms; the central coordinating authority decides after consulting the most representative shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations. Commercial maritime fishing vessels are covered only to the extent that authority deems practicable.

Seafarers are persons employed in any capacity on board a seagoing ship to which the Convention applies. Working and living conditions include maintenance and cleanliness of shipboard areas, minimum age, articles of agreement, food and catering, crew accommodation, recruitment, manning, qualifications, hours of work, medical examinations, occupational accidents, medical care, sickness and injury benefits, social welfare, repatriation, terms of employment subject to national law, and freedom of association as in the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87). “Legal provisions” also include arbitration awards and collective agreements given the force of law.

Article 2 requires each Member to maintain a system of inspection. The central coordinating authority remains responsible; it may authorize competent, independent public institutions or other organizations and must keep a public list. Article 3 requires inspection of ships registered in its territory at intervals not exceeding three years and, when practicable, annually. On a complaint or evidence of non-conformity, the Member shall inspect as soon as practicable. After substantial changes in construction or accommodation, inspection is due within three months.

Article 4 requires qualified inspectors in sufficient number. Article 5 gives them status independent of changes of government and, with proper credentials, power to board, examine, require remedies and, where a deficiency is a significant danger to seafarers’ health and safety, prohibit the ship from leaving port, subject to appeal, without unreasonable detention. Article 6 entitles the shipowner or operator to compensation if the ship is unreasonably detained or delayed; the burden of proof lies with the shipowner or operator.

Article 7 requires effective penalties for breaches of legal provisions and for obstructing inspectors; inspectors may give warnings and advice instead of proceedings. Article 8 requires records and an annual report on inspection activities, published within a reasonable time and in any case within six months after the year concerned. Article 9: a copy of each inspection report, in English or the working language of the ship, goes to the master, and another is posted on the notice board or sent to the seafarers’ representatives. After a major incident, the report is due as soon as practicable and not later than one month after the inspection ends.

Article 10 supersedes the Labour Inspection (Seamen) Recommendation, 1926. Article 12 binds only Members whose ratifications are registered with the Director-General of the International Labour Office; the Convention came into force 12 months after the second ratification, on 22 April 2000. Accompanying Recommendation No. 185 fills out the organisation of inspections. The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, is a later revising instrument within the meaning of Article 17, not the text adopted that day.

Image: ILO headquarters, Geneva, venue of the 1996 maritime session; BiiJii, 2012; CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Labour Inspection (Seafarers) Convention, 1996. Treaty text: Convention (No. 178) concerning the Inspection of Seafarers' Working and Living Conditions, Geneva, 22 October 1996.