New measures to improve conditions for seafarers, including those who have been abandoned, have been adopted at a meeting involving governments, maritime workers and employers’ organisations. The guidelines aim to improve coordination among countries, including flag states, port states, states in which seafarers are national or resident, and states in which recruitment and placement services operate, to resolve abandonment cases more quickly, including getting seafarers paid and repatriated home to their families. Under the MLC, 2006, flag States – countries where ships are registered and/or whose flag the ships are flying – must ensure a financial security system is in place for ships under those flags. The new guidelines encourage flag states to verify, at least yearly, the validity of financial security. The stakeholders include the relevant national seafarers’ welfare boards, shipping agencies, seafarers’ and shipowners’ organisations, seafarer welfare organisations, seafarer recruitment and placement services and others.

Source: The Guardian January 26, 2023 03:51 UTC