New guidelines for port State and flag State authorities on how to deal with seafarer abandonment cases

Earlier this month the ILO and IMO jointly adopted guidelines for port States and flag States on how to deal with seafarer abandonment cases. The new guidelines aim to facilitate the development and implementation of practical steps for port State and flag State authorities to expeditiously and effectively resolve abandonment cases where duty holders have failed to do so.

Under the MLC, 2006, the shipowner remains liable to cover the cost of repatriation, outstanding wages, and other entitlements due to the seafarers under their employment contracts and the MLC, 2006, as well as provision of essential needs.[1] The shipowner is also required to provide adequate financial security to ensure that seafarers are duly repatriated.[2] In cases where the shipowner fails to fulfil the relevant obligations, the flag State should arrange the repatriation of seafarers.[3] If the flag State fails to do so, the responsibility to repatriate the seafarers shall rest with the port State or the State of the nationality of the seafarers.[4]

The new guidelines do not purport to bring any changes to the principles just described. On the contrary, they seek to address the practical difficulties that arise in cases of abandonment of seafarers due to lack of effective coordination and communication between flag States, port States, States in which seafarers are nationals or residents, States in which recruitment and placement services operate, and other stakeholders. In this respect, they set out a series of steps to be taken by port State and flag State authorities to expeditiously and effectively resolve abandonment cases.

The new guidelines provide, inter alia, that the port State shall immediately report an abandonment case to ILO and notify the parties involved, including shipowners, flag States, and any relevant seafarers’ representatives. Upon receiving such notification, the flag State shall urge the shipowner or financial security provider to fulfil their responsibilities in accordance with the MLC, 2006, and, if the latter fail to undertake their responsibilities within the given deadline, the flag State shall take the lead and coordinate the process for the seafarers’ repatriation. Should both the shipowner and the flag State fail to comply with their obligations, the port State shall take the lead of the repatriation process.

Most importantly, the new guidelines prompt flag States and port States to establish a consultation mechanism dedicated to the resolution of seafarer abandonment cases, as well as a domestic Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to explicitly define the liabilities and obligations of flag State and port State authorities, and the roles to be played by other relevant government agencies and non-government entities.

Almost a decade after the MLC, 2006, entered into force, resolving seafarer abandonment cases remains a complex and time-consuming task. This is true even in the most straightforward cases where adequate financial security is available. Lack of coordination and bad communication between shipowners, financial security providers, port States, flag States, and other interested parties means that seafarers and their families have to suffer the adverse consequences of abandonment for longer. The new guidelines take positive steps towards eliminating any resulting risks. However, their non-legally binding nature can hinder their practical significance if flag States and port States are not willing to take action.


[1] MLC, 2006, Regulation 2.5.

[2] ibid.

[3] MLC, 2006, Standard A 2.5.

[4] ibid.

THE IMO CIRCULATES PRELIMINARY LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GOVERNMENTS AND RELEVANT NATIONAL AUTHORITIES ON THE FACILITATION OF CREW CHANGES AND REPATRIATIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health crisis, which places unprecedented restraints to the movement of seafarers for the purposes of crew changes and repatriations. In a circular letter issued on the 27th of March 2020, the IMO has distributed a preliminary list of recommendations for governments and relevant national authorities on the facilitation of crew changes and repatriations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst other things, the IMO specifically urges governments to:

  • designate seafarers, regardless of nationality, as ‘key workers’ providing an essential service;
  • grant seafarers with any necessary and appropriate exemptions from national travel or movement restrictions in order to facilitate their joining or leaving ships;
  • accept, inter alia, official seafarers’ identity documents, discharge books, STCW certificates, seafarer employment agreements and letters of appointment from the maritime employer, as evidence of being a seafarer, where necessary, for the purposes of crew changes;
  • permit seafarers to disembark ships in port and transit through their territory (i.e. to an airport) for the purposes of crew changes and repatriation;
  • implement appropriate approval and screening protocols for seafarers seeking to disembark ships for the purposes of crew changes and repatriation; and
  • provide information to ships and crews on basic protective measures against COVID-19 based on World Health Organisation advice.

While these preliminary recommendations point towards the right direction, still there is a lot that needs to be considered. As recognised ‘key workers’, seafarers will be able to travel to and from a vessel, provided they carry at all times their professional documentation. However, seafarers, who sign off their ships at foreign ports, might not be able to be repatriated, despite their ‘key workers’ status. That is because many countries have now closed their international borders, and so commercial flights have been cancelled until further notice. In these circumstances, it will be up to the seafarers’ country of residency to take appropriate measures for their repatriation.

Furthermore, many countries have now adopted mandatory measures requiring people to self-isolate before they enter their territory depending on whether they had recently visited an affected country. Seafarers will have to adhere to these mandatory measures, irrespective of their ‘key workers’ status. That raises the question as to who should bear the cost for any expenses incurred by seafarers during self-isolation. According to regulation 2.5 of the MLC, 2006, shipowners should cover the costs of repatriation (i.e. travel expenses, food, clothing, accommodation, medical treatment etc) until seafarers are landed at the place of return (i.e. the agreed place under the SEA, the place at which seafarers entered into the SEA or the seafarers’ country of residency). Thus, seafarers who have to self-isolate awaiting repatriation at a foreign country should not bear any costs. It is, however, likely that seafarers who have to self-isolate at the place of return will have to bear the cost for any additional expenses.

Given these complexities, many shipowners now prefer to extend the SEAs instead of signing-off and repatriating crewmembers. However, this cannot be done without the consent of seafarers, unless, of course, the SEAs include a clause to that effect. In any case, any decisions as to the extension of the SEAs should not be taken lightly and should not prejudice the seafarers’ mental health and wellbeing.

Containers a-weigh! 14 days to go.

On 1 July 2016 new amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (“SOLAS”) convention that will apply to international shipments come into effect. For all containers to which the IMO’s convention for safe containers apply there must be a verified gross mass (‘VGM’) prior to loading of a container. The party named as shipper on the ocean bill of lading must provide the maritime ocean carrier and the terminal operator with the verified gross mass of a packed container. Until this has been received, the carrier and the terminal operator cannot load a packed container aboard a ship until the verified gross mass for that container has been received. Ship stowage plans should use VGMs for all packed containers loaded on board. Weight verification is not required for an empty container, and there is no requirement that the shipper’s declaration be verified by the ocean carrier or the container terminal.

The shipper may weigh, or arranged for a third party to weigh, the entire packed container, alternatively the shipper, or a third party, may weigh all packages and cargo items individually, including pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material, and add the resulting mass to the tare mass of the container. The shipper must clearly specify the “verified gross mass,” through the shipping instructions or by a separate communication, such as a declaration, including a weight certificate. In the UK the Competent Authority for implementing these requirements is the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Greenhouse gas and shipping. Still no emissions targets for global shipping.

Shipping and aviation are both excluded from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol left it to the IMO to pursue measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping. At its meeting on 21/22 April the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) approved mandatory requirements for ships to record and report their fuel consumption. However, a proposal by the Marshall Islands to set emissions targets for global shipping by 2017, with implementation in 2018, has been deferred until the next MEPC meeting in October 2016.