Protecting seafarers’ rights isn’t easy, but at a presentation last Thursday evening at the Training Division, Captain Raman Bala explained an agreement that he said will soon help regulate their living and working conditions here and abroad.
Mr. Bala, the acting director of the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry, said the territory will soon officially sign on to the Maritime Labour Convention, an agreement adopted in 2006 by the International Labour Organisation, a specialised agency within the United Nations that strives to promote rights at work and enhance social protection.
Known as the seafarers’ bill of rights, the MLC provides guidelines to ensure that individuals working on commercial vessels receive proper training, decent accommodations, access to fresh air and medical care, and no less than 10 hours of rest in a 24-hour work period, Mr. Bala said.
Additionally, the MLC states that employers are required to provide their workers with quality food and drinking water.
“This seems to be a big problem previously,” he said.
Vessel inspections, he added, will be used to enforce these new regulations.
The director said certain vessels would be exempt, as the MLC does not apply to pleasure vessels, fishing vessels, warships and naval auxiliaries, ships of traditional build, ships that operate exclusively in inland waters, or vessels that operate only between ports in the VI.
Mr. Bala said the MLC was implemented internationally in August 2014, and he expects it will shortly come into law in the territory.
See the July 23, 2015 edition for full coverage.
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