Exactly one month ago (25th of June, 2012) was the IMO declared 2nd Annual Day of the Seafarer. Over 1.5million seafarer's contribute immensely to the global economy.
In our last post yesterday we started out x-raying the rights of the seafarer.
Today we would forge ahead. A quick appetizer first though.
2.0. Major International Legislations providing for the Rights of Seafarers (contd.)
A. ILO based Conventions (contd.)
Fishing is an integral part of ocean (and water bodies) related activities. According to a Policy brief of the FAO for the UNFCCC COP-15 in Copenhagen, December 2009 titled 'Fisheries and Aquaculture in our Changing Climate', the total number of commercial fishermen and fish farmers is estimated to be 38 million. Fisheries and aquaculture provide direct and indirect employment to over 500 million people.
Fishing is also very dangerous. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. During 2000-2006, commercial fishing was one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States, with an average annual fatality rate of 115 deaths per 100,000 fishermen.
It stands to reason, after all this delicacy can sometimes come larger than a man.
Fishing also generates its own fair share of controversies. Elsewhere (in Scribd to be precise) I wrote a piece titled 'Policy Bewilderment as a Recipe for Extinction-The IWC and Whaling' that is my two pennies worth view. If you are interested in Whales & Whaling hop right in.
Fishermen are seafarers too. (That is stating the obvious. Fishes aren't caught on land!) So they are equally entitled to rights.
The ILO Work in Fishing Convention (No.188) (adopted at the 96th International Labour Conference (ILC) of the ILO in 2007.) sets standards to protect workers in fishing. Like the MLC, 2006 the convention is not yet in effect. Ratification by a minimum of 10 ILO member states (including eight coastal nations) is needed to bring it to effect.
The Convention aims to ensure that fishers have decent conditions of work on board fishing vessels with regard to minimum requirements for work on board; conditions of service; accommodation and food; occupational safety and health protection; medical care and social security. It applies to all fishers and fishing vessels engaged in commercial fishing operations and supersedes the old Conventions relating to fishermen.
There are also measures to ensure compliance and enforcement. Large fishing vessels on extended voyages may be inspected in foreign ports to ensure that fishers do not work under conditions that are hazardous to their safety and health.
B. IMO based Conventions
The International Maritime Organisations (IMO) sets international maritime standards through a number of Conventions and guidelines. The three main IMO Conventions are:
- International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) (covers safety at sea)
- Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention (STCW) (covers training and professional standards for seafarers)
- International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) (addresses environmental concerns)
The IMO Conventions are of primary importance to seafarers rights because they have a direct impact on living and working conditions of seafarers.
3.0. National Laws & Seafarer's Rights.
Most Maritime nations have national laws that directly implicate the rights of seafarers. As stated in the last post, a country's national laws on Employment & Labour, Trade & Investment, Contractual relations etc. may have an effect on Seafarer's rights. A privilege conferred on the seafarer which has the force of law can be justly construed as a right.
Since there are myriads of national laws, we would just give an example of where national law have conferred rights on seafarers. One of such laws is the Republic of the Philippines (a major Maritime labour supplier) POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Seafarers. The first three opening statements in the Rules are as follows:
"It is the policy of the Administration:
- To uphold the dignity and fundamental human rights of Filipino seafarers navigating the foreign seas and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all;
- To protect every Filipino seafarer desiring to work overseas by securing the best possible terms and conditions of employment; and
- To allow the deployment of Filipino seafarers to countries which have existing labor and social laws or are signatories to international agreements protecting the rights of seafarers..."
Similar laws of other nations exist and for the scholarly geeks and researchers amongst the readership of this blog you can take an ecstatic nerdy trip to NATLEX, the database of national labour, social security and related human rights legislation maintained by the ILO's International Labour Standards Department.
For the rest of us how about a little infotainment?
Think a career at the seas is not for you? Even for the Navy? Oh common! Think again!
Check out below the fun that is astronavigation. Technology aside, these guys have a crack at the age-old method of navigating by the sun, moon, planets and stars, swapping their GPS for complicated looking tools called "sextants". It's a lesson in navigation for Midshipmen produced by Defence Media Centre production, in partnership with the Republic of Singapore Navy.
If you did not pick anything from the video, you ought to have learnt something from the rope splicing lesson! If you didn't then you need to watch the clip again!
4.0. Other mechanisms for Seafarer's rights articulation
There are diverse other mechanisms for the articulation of seafarer's rights.
Some of these mechanisms include Maritime and Labour organization efforts, Trade Unions etc.
The more popular ones are the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI). The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is an international trade union federation of transport workers' unions. Any independent trade union with members in the transport industry is eligible for membership of the ITF. 690 unions representing over 4.5 million transport workers in 153 countries are members of the ITF. It is one of several Global Federation Unions allied with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
One of the aims of the ITF as set out in its Constitution is to promote respect for trade union and human rights worldwide.
The Seafarers’ Rights International is a unique and independent centre dedicated to advancing seafarers’ interests through research, education and training in the law concerning seafarers.
In addition the major international bodies x-rayed earlier like the IMO periodically issues circulars and guidelines on various aspects of seafarer's rights. For example the Guidelines on fair treatment of seafarers in the event of a maritime accident, Circular letter No.2711 of 26 June 2006.
5.0 Summary of Seafarer's Rights
Ladies first.
The Seafarer's Rights Regime recognizes gender equality in a variety of ways, thus female seafarers:
Now generally speaking a summary of the rights of the ILO based MLC includes:
- the right to a safe and secure workplace that complies with international safety standards;
- the right to decent working and living conditions aboard;
- the right to claim health protection, medical care, welfare measures and other forms of social protection;
- the right to fair terms of employment;
- the right to form or join trade unions of his/her choice and to seek help of the union for negotiations of a collective bargaining agreement on his/her behalf;
- The right not to be charged by a marine agency for purpose of seeking recruitment. Though services in terms of obtaining international documents, national seafarer’s book, medical certificates etc. can be charged for.
There are many other rights and you can go in search of them here as your nerdy spirit leads you.
6.0. Mechanisms for the enforcement of Seafarer's rights.
When a seafarer's rights are infringed what options are open to him?
National laws often present no problem as they generally mean access to national courts. This is even more so when the ship owners are suing on contractual rights subject to national laws.
But we all know that shipping is an international industry. There are a number of bottlenecks here. First a situation where the seafarer is from a different nationality, the ship-owner from a different nationality and the ship registered in a flag of convenience different from both the seafarer and the ship-owner, creates a very interesting legal mix of potential Maritime Conflicts of Law.
Second though the ILO and IMO based conventions often contain a general framework for implementation and enforcement of its provisions, the general weaknesses associated with individuals' personal access to justice based on International Conventions permeates here as well.
Implementation and enforcement of ILO and IMO standards is thus dependent to a large extent on the will of the flag state and this differs (apologies Equity) 'with the Chancellor's foot.'
The situation is made more precarious because both the ILO based MLC of 2006 and the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (No.188) of 2007 have yet to come into force. So in reality the rights of seafarers still exist in a maze of dense and often overlapping conventions and standards.
All these have a bearing on how easily and quickly the seafarer can access his rights.
For a scholarly exposition of the peculiarities inherent thereto. I recommend the following reads:
- "Seafarers' Rights in the Globalized Maritime Industry" by Desislava Nikolaeva Dimitrova, Roger Blanpain 2010 Kluwer Law International BV. The Netherlands. ISBN 978-90-411-3349-6. It is now also available as an e-book and can be purchased here; and
- "Seafarers' Rights" Edited by Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Michael Anderson Oxford University Press, 2005 - Law - 622 pages. ISBN13: 9780199277520ISBN10: 0199277524 Hardback, 690 pages Apr 2005, In Stock. Price:$199.50 (06). Chapter Three dealing with International Compliance and Enforcement Mechanisms for Seafarers' Rights is particularly relevant. You can order it online here.
7.0. Conclusion
Seafarer's rights is one that should rightly occupy our attention. The importance of Seafarers to global trade can hardly be underestimated.
In the face of a global economic onslaught, perhaps more states especially developing Maritime states like Nigeria would see the need for becoming a Maritime labour hub (just like the Philippines, India and a few Eastern European countries) and Hopefully more states would ratify the two major ILO Conventions that have a bearing on seafarer's right to usher in a more streamlined rights regime.
That's it for this post!
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