UK Ratifies MLC

With this ratification, 41 ILO Member States, representing 75.3% of the world gross tonnage of ships and more than 50% of the world’s 1.2 million seafarers have now committed themselves to the Convention, which comes into force on 20 August.

The UK is also the 15th European Union member to have ratified the landmark Convention. The MLC, 2006 will become the fourth pillar of the international maritime legal regime complementing key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) with decent working and living conditions for seafarers and conditions of fair competition for ship owners.

More than 24,100 UK nationals work as seafarers. Its maritime sector creates up to some 263,000 jobs and directly contributes nearly £13.8 billion to the GDP. It also has 1,383 registered vessels totalling more than 16.57 million gross tonnage under its flag.

In transmitting the instrument of ratification, Mark Matthews, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations in Geneva, stated: “This Convention is about promoting acceptable working conditions for seafarers globally. It will also promote a level playing field for the UK merchant fleet and have spin-offs for international trade. I am therefore very pleased to be adding the UK’s name to the list of countries that have ratified the Convention.”

The MLC, 2006 will enter into force on 20 August 2013 for the first 30 ratifying countries (the 30 countries that had a registered ratification on 20 August 2012). For countries that have registered their ratification after 20 August 2012, the MLC, 2006 will enter into force 12 months after their ratification.

See OnboardOnline's previous coverage on issues surrounding the MLC from contributing writers Melanie Langley and Grant Atchison:

-"MLC – What you need to know"

-"MLC – Your questiones answered"

-"MLC Uncovered"

-"MLC Ratification and its impact on crew employment"