Description
The latest edition of the industry’s essential Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) guide.
The Guidelines on the Application of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention are the definitive reference for maritime employment standards, and the latest edition is designed to help shipping companies move from regulation to action with confidence.
This fifth edition prepares shipowners, operators and managers for the 2025 amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention, translating complex requirements into clear, practical guidance that works on board and ashore. It supports better living and working conditions for the 1.89 million seafarers who keep global trade moving, while helping companies demonstrate compliance during inspections and audits.
What’s new in the latest edition:
- Guidance on seafarer key worker designation
- Strengthened requirements for fair treatment and repatriation, in the event of abandonment
- New mandatory measures supporting visa-free shore leave
- Enhanced protections against violence, harassment, bullying and sexual harassment, aligned with ILO Convention C190
- Stronger safeguards for the confidential handling of seafarer complaints
- Updated requirements for onboard welfare facilities, including sanitary products
To support real-world application, this ICS guide includes redesigned, inspection-ready checklists, clear color-coding to distinguish mandatory MLC requirements from guidance, and concise summary boxes for time-pressed readers. New best-practice sections cover the use of crewing agencies and practical measures to prevent violence and harassment, with policy templates included.
Written for shipping companies, crewing agents, superintendents, maritime colleges, flag and port state inspectors, and anyone involved in the employment of seafarers, these guidelines are particularly valuable for masters, senior officers, HR teams and shoreside personnel.
The latest edition of the Guidelines on the Application of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention sits alongside other core ICS publications, including the Guidelines on the IMO STCW Convention and the International Medical Guide for Seafarers and Fishers, now referenced within the MLC as recommended onboard medical guidance.
It is the benchmark ICS guide for MLC compliance. Practical, authoritative and ready for inspection.
Introduction
The International Labour Organization (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) aims to ensure that all seafarers have the right to a safe and secure workplace, fair terms of employment, decent working and living conditions on board ship, and clear rights to health protection, medical care and other forms of social protection.
The MLC was adopted in 2006 by a special International Labour Conference, in Geneva, comprising hundreds of representatives of governments, seafarers’ and shipowners’ organizations. The ILO MLC is the ‘fourth pillar’ of the international maritime regulatory framework, standing alongside the International Convention for the Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS), International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) adopted by IMO. It is now an essential aspect of international shipping regulation, which virtually all maritime states follow and enforce through flag state inspection and port state control.
The ILO is a United Nations (UN) agency based in Geneva, which has developed labor standards for the shipping industry since 1920. Before the adoption of the MLC, a series of special ILO diplomatic conferences had adopted a large number of conventions and recommendations for specific application to shipping, far more than for any other industry.
In 2006, updated versions of most of these standards and recommendations were incorporated into the MLC.
ILO is unique among UN agencies. Its standards are developed on a tripartite basis, meaning that at ILO meetings there are shipowners’ representatives and trade union representatives with voting rights, sitting alongside ILO member states.
The shipping industry itself is unique in that it has always had a separate and distinct machinery at ILO for developing maritime labor standards to that which exists for other industries. The shipowners’ group at ILO maritime meetings is coordinated by ICS (until 2011, ICS operated at ILO under the name of the International Shipping Federation (ISF)). The seafarers’ group is coordinated by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
Before the MLC came into effect, there were 69 separate maritime labor standards. Once the MLC entered into force in 2013, it superseded most of the existing ILO maritime instruments. Previously, many of these ILO conventions were not widely ratified by governments, and only a small number of governments had made serious efforts to apply the various maritime recommendations.
In spite of the longstanding commitment of the shipping industry and seafarers’ organizations to the concept of international labor standards, there was growing concern by the end of the previous century that a genuine level playing field did not exist, putting the majority of responsible ship operators at a commercial disadvantage to the small minority that did not take working conditions as seriously as they should.
Contents Listing
Chapter 1 Key issues, certification and enforcement and seafarers’ rights
1.1 Purpose and origins of the MLC
1.2 Convention structure
1.3 Labour standards overview
1.4 MLC explanatory note
1.5 Entry into force, implementation and enforcement
1.6 Application
1.6.1 Application to ships
1.6.2 Application to seafarers
1.7 Seafarers as key workers
1.8 Links between the MLC, the STCW Convention and the ISM Code
1.9 Summary of key points
Chapter 2 Fundamental seafarer rights
2.1 Freedom of association
2.2 Collective bargaining
2.3 Protection from unfair treatment, discrimination, and violence and harassment
2.3.1 Prevention of violence and harassment
2.3.2 Prevention of unfair treatment of seafarers held in connection with investigations
2.4 Promoting diversity and inclusion in shipping
2.5 Summary of key points
Chapter 3 Flag state inspection and certification
3.1 Flag state inspections
3.2 Areas to be inspected
3.3 Inspectors’ powers
3.4 MLC certification
3.4.1 Maritime labour certificate
3.4.2 Declaration of maritime labour compliance
3.4.3 Interim certificates
3.5 Summary of key points
Chapter 4 Port state control
4.1 Normal inspections
4.2 Grounds for a more detailed inspection
4.3 Detention of a ship
4.4 Common MLC deficiencies
4.5 Summary of key points
Chapter 5 Minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship
5.1 Minimum age
5.2 Medical certificate
5.3 Training and qualifications
5.4 Recruitment and placement
5.4.1 General principles
5.4.2 Government obligations
5.4.3 Shipowner obligations
5.4.4 Oversight of third party recruitment services
5.5 Summary of key points
Chapter 6 Young seafarers and the MLC
6.1 Minimum age of seafarers
6.2 Working hours of young seafarers
6.3 Medical certification for young seafarers
6.4 Young seafarers and food and catering
6.5 Repatriation of young seafarers
6.6 Safety and health education of young seafarers
6.7 Summary of key points
Chapter 7 Conditions of employment
7.1 Shipowner obligations
7.2 Seafarers’ employment agreements
7.3 Wages
7.3.1 ILO minimum wage
7.3.2 Definitions for the calculation of wages
7.3.3 Overtime
7.3.4 Consolidated wages
7.3.5 General principles for payment of wage deductions
7.4 Hours of work and rest
7.4.1 MLC and STCW rest requirements
7.4.2 The hours of work and rest regimes
7.4.3 Schedule of working
7.4.4 Record keeping
7.4.5 Permitted exceptions
7.4.6 Hours of work for young seafarers
7.5 Entitlement to shore leave
7.5.1 Calculation of entitlement for paid leave
7.5.2 Other considerations
7.6 In the event of loss or foundering
7.6.1 In the event of a hostage situation
7.7 Crewing levels
7.8 Career development
7.9 Summary of key points
Chapter 8 Accommodation and recreational facilities
8.1 Application to new and existing ships
8.2 Ongoing compliance
8.3 Design and construction
8.4 Prevention of noise and vibration
8.5 Heating, air conditioning and ventilation
8.6 Lighting
8.7 Living accommodation
8.7.1 Sleeping rooms on all ships other than passenger ships and special purpose ships
8.7.2 Sleeping rooms on passenger ships and special purpose ships
8.7.3 Mess rooms
8.7.4 Bedding, mess utensils and personal hygiene provisions
8.7.5 Hospital
8.7.6 Laundry
8.7.7 Facilities for engine personnel
8.7.8 Ship’s office
8.7.9 Sanitary facilities
8.8 Recreational facilities
8.8.1 Social connectivity
8.8.2 Open decks
8.8.3 Mail and ship visits
8.9 Guidance for ships constructed before the MLC entered into force
8.9.1 Maintenance of accommodation for ships constructed before the MLC entered into force
8.9.2 Ventilation for ships constructed before the MLC entered into force
8.9.3 Sanitary accommodation for ships constructed before the MLC entered into force
8.10 Summary of key points
Chapter 9 Food and catering
9.1 Shipowners’ obligations
9.1.1 Food storage and sufficient food
9.1.2 Condition of galley
9.1.3 Vermin control
9.1.4 Drinking water
9.2 Ships’ cooks
9.2.1 Ship’s cook’s training
9.3 Inspection by the master
9.4 Summary of key points
Chapter 10 Health protection and medical care
10.1 The provisions for health, safety and medical care
10.2 Limitations permitted by national law for payment in the event of illness or injury
10.3 Medical care on board ship
10.4 Medical qualifications of seafarers
10.5 Carriage requirements for medical equipment
10.6 Diseases
10.7 Summary of key points
Chapter 11 Health and safety protection
11.1 Personal protective equipment
11.2 Prevention of noise and vibration
11.3 Young seafarers’ health and safety
11.4 Other issues
11.5 Shipowner obligations on accident prevention
11.6 National health and safety protection and prevention program
11.6.1 Instruction in occupational safety and health protection and the prevention of occupational accidents
11.7 Reporting, collection of statistics and investigations
11.8 Investigation into the deaths of seafarers
11.9 Summary of key points
Chapter 12 Shipowners’ liability to protect seafarers from the consequences of sickness, injury and death
12.1 Summary of key points
Chapter 13 Seafarers’ welfare
13.1 Access to shore-based welfare facilities
13.2 Summary of key points
Chapter 14 Social security
14.1 Social security
14.2 Seafarers’ Pension Convention
14.3 Summary of key points
Chapter 15 Repatriation
15.1 Shipowner obligations
15.2 Circumstances where repatriation is required
15.3 Costs to be met by the shipowner
15.4 Repatriation in the event of abandonment
15.5 Reimbursement of expenses in the event of abandonment
15.6 Summary of key points
Chapter 16 Death in service of a seafarer
16.1 Repatriation of a body in the event of a fatality
16.2 The seafarer’s effects
16.3 Seafarer compensation in the event of a fatality
16.4 Summary of key points
Chapter 17 Complaint procedures
17.1 On board complaints
17.2 Shipowner policies
17.3 Complaints to other parties
17.4 Contractual redress for seafarers
17.5 Summary of key points
Appendices
Appendix A MLC documentation checklist
Appendix B Minimum requirements to work on a ship
Appendix C Conditions of employment
Appendix D Accommodation and recreational facilities
Appendix E Health and safety
Appendix F On board complaint procedures
Appendix G Industry Principles for Establishing Effective Measures to Combat and Eliminate Violence and Harassment in the Maritime Sector
Appendix H Crewing Agency Guidelines
Forward
2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) adoption by the International Labour Organization (ILO). This ground breaking instrument consolidated and modernized around 70 maritime labor instruments into a single, comprehensive international framework. In doing so, it established enforceable minimum standards for wages, hours of work and rest, medical care, accommodation, repatriation and welfare, creating a clear and consistent global baseline to ensure seafarers receive fair and consistent opportunities. The shipping industry is proud to be the only industrial sector to have such a comprehensive regime in place.
Pursuing a career at sea remains a highly rewarding choice, with strong employment conditions and opportunities for long-term progression. Protecting and advancing the standards of the MLC, however, is essential to continue attracting and retaining the high caliber workforce of the shipping industry. Without the 1.89 million dedicated seafarers working worldwide, moving global trade by sea would not be possible.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), as an official ILO social partner, has been deeply involved in shaping the MLC since before its adoption. Alongside the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), ICS played a central role in the convention’s development, negotiation and continuing revision, working with the ILO and partners, to ensure that the convention remains practical, effective and responsive to emerging challenges.
2006 also saw the release of the first edition of the Guidelines on the Application of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention. For 20 years, this publication has supported shipping companies in upholding these common standards and maintaining a genuinely fair global operating environment. The new edition of this essential guide continues to support companies to move directly from policy to practice by distilling complex regulatory text into practical information that can be applied on board.
Additional Information
| Author | International Chamber of Shipping |
| Publisher | International Chamber of Shipping Publications |
| Edition | Fifth Edition |
| Publication | 2026 - March |
| ISBN | 9781913997748 |
| Shipping Weight | 1.8 Kg |