The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006: A Legal Primer to an Emerging International Regime

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2006, is the fourth pillar of the international maritime regulatory regime. It both fills a gap in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and complements the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) core conventions on ship safety, & security, training and pollution prevention.

Aimed at achieving both decent work for seafarers and fair competition for shipowners, the MLC, 2006 covers most aspects of maritime labour. It establishes an effective enforcement and compliance system with, for the first time, certification of seafarers’ working and living conditions on ships. With its interwoven labour and social rights and economic goals, the MLC, 2006 is an international legal instrument that will have a significant impact on approaches to labour standards in other globalized sectors.

Co-authored by international law practitioners and scholars with combined expertise in the public international law of the sea, maritime law, international labour law, and, more specifically, direct involvement with the development of the MLC, 2006 over nearly a decade, The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006: A Legal Primer to an Emerging International Regime discusses the MLC, 2006 within the contexts of labour and maritime law. It also includes an appendix with the full Convention text (and notes).

Additional documents cited in the work are also available on the International Labour Organization’s website.