Shipping: Social protection

The provision of social protection in the maritime industry is especially challenging as seafarers often work under the laws of a country other than their own. In these circumstances, protection from unfair, hazardous and unhealthy working conditions as well as access to health services and social security protection for seafarers and their families can be especially difficult to implement.

The ILO has approached these difficulties through the adoption of comprehensive maritime labour standards covering a wide range of social protection issues.

See the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 and the consolidation of Maritime Labour Standards.

Many ILO publications, in particular guidelines and codes of practice, relating to seafarers and merchant shipping deal with social protection in  one way or another. See some of these publications.

Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group on Liability and Compensation regarding Claims for Death, Personal Injury and Abandonment of Seafarers

The Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group was established in 1998, to consider questions of liability and compensation in connection with crew claims, to ensure, through the operation of appropriate international instruments, the rights of crew members/seafarers to adequate compensation for loss of life, personal injury and abandonment, and to formulate suitable recommendations to the IMO Legal Committee and the Governing Body of the ILO, as appropriate. The Reports of this Working Group (including draft resolutions and guidelines) are available online.

The Ninth Session of the Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Working Group on Liability and Compensation Regarding Claims for Death, Personal Injury and Abandonment of Seafarers will be held at the headquarters of the ILO from 2 - 6 March 2009. The relevant documents available for the Session:

• Document submitted by the Joint Secretariat - Provision of financial security in case of abandonment of seafarers
• Document submitted by the Joint Secretariat - Financial security for seafarers and their dependents with regard to compensation in the case of personal injury or death of a seafarer
• Submitted by the International Shipping Federation (ISF) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) - Examination of the issue of financial security for crew members/seafarers and their dependants with regard to compensation in cases of personal injury, death and abandonment
• Note by the International Labour Office - Potential options for addressing the issue of liability and compensation for seafarer claims for death, personal injury and abandonment

Database on reported incidents of abandonment of seafarers
In agreement with the conclusions of the 6th session of the Joint IMO/ILO ad hoc Expert Working Group on Liability and Compensation regarding Claims for Death, Personal Injury and Abandonment of Seafarers, held in London from 19 to 21 September 2005, the ILO presents a regularly updated and dedicated database giving appropriate information on abandoned ships and seafarers.

Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group on the Fair Treatment of Seafarers in the Event of a Maritime Accident

At its 290th Session (June 2004), the Governing Body approved the establishment of a Joint ILO/IMO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group on the Fair Treatment of Seafarers in the Event of a Maritime Accident. According to its terms of reference, the Joint Working Group should prepare suitable recommendations for consideration by the IMO Legal Committee and the ILO Governing Body, including draft guidelines on the fair treatment of seafarers in the event of a maritime incident. The first session of the Joint Working Group took place from 17-19 January 2005. The report to the Governing Body on this session is available.

Working and living conditions of seafarers in international registers

The ILO conducted a survey of living and working conditions of seafarers on international registers. In addition, a Questionnaire on international registers: Living and working conditions of seafarers was sent to Ministries of Labour, maritime administrations, shipowners' organizations and seafarers' organizations in countries with maritime activities. The results were used to prepare an ILO report for the Meeting of Experts on Working and Living Conditions of Seafarers on board Ships in International Registers (Geneva, 6-8 May 2002).