The 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference adopted in Geneva, on 23 February 2006, the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006; C186). The record vote was 314 in favour, none against and four abstentions, under the presidency of Jean-Marc Schindler (France). The session had been convened on 7 February. Wikipedia writes “Signed”; the official ILO form is adoption by the Conference, followed by ratifications deposited with the Director-General, not a plenipotentiary signing.

The instrument consolidates, in a single text, the up-to-date standards of 37 ILO maritime conventions and related recommendations. It is presented as the fourth pillar of international maritime law, alongside SOLAS, STCW and MARPOL. The authentic texts are English and French. The depositary is the Director-General of the International Labour Office. The United Nations registered the convention as UNTS I-51299 on 20 August 2013, when it entered into force.

Article VIII requires formal ratifications registered by the Director-General. The convention binds only those ILO Members whose ratifications have been registered. It comes into force 12 months after at least 30 Members, with at least 33 per cent of world gross tonnage, have ratified. That threshold was met so that the application date was 20 August 2013. That is not the Geneva date.

The text has sixteen articles plus a Code in five titles: minimum requirements to work on a ship; conditions of employment; accommodation, recreation, food and catering; health protection and social security; compliance and enforcement. Regulations and Standards A are mandatory; Guidelines B are for implementation. A state may declare, on ratification, a substantial equivalence.

The stated purpose is decent work for seafarers: employment agreements, wages, rest, leave, repatriation, on-board medical care, accommodation and food. Title 1 sets, at the level of principle, a minimum age and medical fitness. This is not a crewing, recruitment or port-control handbook.

Enforcement combines flag-state certification with port-state inspection. Ships flying a non-ratifying flag may be inspected when they call at ports of parties. The Code was later amended (2014, 2016, 2018, 2022); the register row is the convention adopted in 2006, not those updates.

Cover: the ILO headquarters in Geneva — the photograph is of the building, not of the February voting hall. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

Sources consulted: Maritime Labour Convention; Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.