TheMaritime Labour Convention, 2006 or MLC, 2006 is an international labour Convention adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO). It provides international standards for the world’s first genuinely global industry.
Widely known as the “seafarers’ bill of rights,” the MLC, 2006 was adopted by the government, employer and workers representatives at a special ILO International Labour Conference in February 2006.
It is unique in that it aims both to achieve decent work for seafarers and to secure economic interests through fair competition for quality ship owners.
The Convention is comprehensive and sets out, in one place, seafarers' rights to decent working conditions. It covers almost every aspect of their work and life on board including:
minimum age
seafarers’ employment agreements
hours of work or rest
payment of wages
paid annual leave
repatriation at the end of the contract
onboard medical care
the use of licensed private recruitment and placement services
accommodation, food and catering
health and safety protection and accident prevention and
seafarers’ complaint handling
The Convention was designed to be applicable globally, easy to understand, readily updatable and uniformly enforced and will become the "fourth pillar" of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) dealing with safety and security of ships and protection of the marine environment.