The Maritime Labour Convention is nearly upon us. Good job too! And it seems that some of you out there are getting ahead of the game.
With the ratification of the MLC, 2006 by Denmark, 16 ILO member States, representing over 53 per cent of the world gross tonnage of ships, are now parties. The MLC sets out minimum standards and fair working conditions for seafarers worldwide. It is expected that the additional 14 ratifications will be obtained before the end of this year making it possible for the MLC to enter into force in 2012.
Class society Bureau Veritas has just certified its first manning agency in the Philippines – Maryville Manila Inc – for compliance with the new Maritime Labour Convention.
According to Claude Maillot, VP Ships in Service Management for Bureau Veritas: "The readiness of Maryville Manila Inc. to move towards voluntary compliance and certification under MLC2006 in advance of the convention coming into force demonstrates both the quality of the organisation and the forward thinking of its management. We have so far certified one seafarer manning office in the UK and its branch office in India, two in Greece and we have published a Guidance Note (NI 563) to facilitate the certification process. We expect other manning offices be looking for certification before the convention enters into force, probably next year."
Good work.
http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/maritime-labour-convention/lang–en/index.htm
