Maritime Labour Convention, 2006
The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended, (MLC, 2006), was adopted by the 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) on 23 February 2006.
This Convention revises and consolidates 37 existing Conventions and the related Recommendations. The MLC, 2006, uses a new format with some updating, where necessary, to reflect modern conditions and language. In this manner, it sets out, in a single instrument, the right of the world’s 1.5 million seafarers to decent conditions of work in almost every aspect of their working and living conditions, including minimum age, employment agreements, hours of work and rest, payment of wages, paid annual leave, repatriation, on board medical care, the use of recruitment and placement services, accommodation, food and catering, health and safety protection and accident prevention, and complaint procedures for seafarers.
96.6 %
of the world gross shipping tonnage represented by all ratifications
News and articles
Maritime Labour Convention
Global register on seafarer deaths
Held the VI Tripartite Seminar on the application in Spain of the Maritime Labor Convention MLC, 2006
Latest events
Second Meeting of the Joint ILO–IMO Tripartite Working Group to Identify and Address Seafarers’ Issues and the Human Element
A Convention under continuous review
The MLC, 2006 entered into force on 20 August 2013. Its Code was amended in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2022.
Text of the MLC, 2006 and amendments
Special Tripartite Committee
In June 2013, the ILO Governing Body established the Special Tripartite Committee (STC), which is mandated under Article XIII of the MLC, 2006, to keep the working of the Convention under continuous review.
Under the Convention, the Committee has the power to consider and propose to the International Labour Conference amendments to the Code of the Convention, and also plays an important consultative role under Article VII for countries that do not have national shipowners’ or seafarers’ organisations to consult when implementing the MLC, 2006.
Implementation, reporting and supervision
Implementation
Reporting and supervision
- Reports requested for the MLC, 2006, as amended
- Report form for the MLC, 2006, as amended (Word form and pdf)
- Browse comments of the supervisory bodies on the application of the MLC, 2006
Maritime databases
MLC database
Database on reported incidents of abandonment of seafarers
Seafarers' Identity Documents
The amended version of the Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185) entered into force on 8 June 2017, incorporating the latest standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The issuance of the new Seafarers' Identity Documents (SID), with technology similar to the one currently used in electronic passports, contributes to facilitating access to shore leave, transfer and transit for seafarers while enhancing security in ports and borders through the use of a secure and internationally recognised document.
The Convention makes a vital contribution to the security of maritime transport in order to combat terrorist threats, and particularly to respond to the needs of seafarers in transit or transfer to join a ship or to be repatriated. It also facilitates access to shore facilities and shore leave, which are essential for the health and general welfare of seafarers, who often remain on board their ship for several months at a time.
Joint IMO/ILO activities