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At its 108th session held remotely from 26 July 2021 to 11 August 2021, the Legal Committee (the Committee) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) considered the issue of abandonment of seafarers and the shipowners’ responsibilities.
 
In so considering the issue, the Committee considered a document presented by the Secretariats of the International Labour Office (ILO) and the IMO containing, in its annex, a report on the IMO/ILO joint database of abandonment of seafarers for the period 1 January 2020 to 1 April 2021. Interestingly, some of the issues that arose in the discussion of the same are the following, i.e.:
 
1.   Four years after the entry into force of the 2014 amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC), there was still a large proportion of shipowners who continued to operate without the required financial security. In 2014, amendments were made to the MLC, which entered into force on 18 January 2017, requiring, inter-alia, that an expeditious and effective financial security system be put in place to ensure that shipowners provide compensation to seafarers and their families in the event of abandonment, death or long-term disability due to an occupational injury, illness or hazard.
 
2.   The maritime crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had revealed a dramatic number of uninsured shipowners.
 
It would appear that the following challenges impede the proper implementation of the financial security requirements brought by the 2014 amendments, i.e.
 
1.   Insufficient mechanisms in place to ensure that vessels cannot trade without valid abandonment insurance;
 
2.   Whilst the definition of abandonment is quite clear, the circumstances surrounding abandonment and the relationships between flag States, shipowners, their insurers and other entities with a commercial interest in the vessel, are extremely varied;
 
3.   While in a number of cases, P&I Clubs have responded promptly to applications and discharged their obligations as intended in others they have not responded.
 
These impediments have been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the fact that a huge number of ships, even those registered to nations that have accepted the 2014 amendments, generally operate without insurance as intended by the 2014 amendments. It would, therefore, appear that while acceptance of the 2014 amendments to the MLC by a large number of nations remains crucial, it may be more important for States to properly identify what is impeding the proper implementation of the 2014 amendments to the MLC and come up with cogent solutions for the said impediments. #maritime #law #insurance #covid #security

At its 108th session held remotely from 26 July 2021 to 11 August 2021, the Legal Committee (the Committee) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) considered the issue of abandonment of seafarers and the shipowners’ responsibilities.

In so considering the issue, the Committee considered a document presented by the Secretariats of the International Labour Office (ILO) and the IMO containing, in its annex, a report on the IMO/ILO joint database of abandonment of seafarers for the period 1 January 2020 to 1 April 2021. Interestingly, some of the issues that arose in the discussion of the same are the following, i.e.:

1. Four years after the entry into force of the 2014 amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC), there was still a large proportion of shipowners who continued to operate without the required financial security. In 2014, amendments were made to the MLC, which entered into force on 18 January 2017, requiring, inter-alia, that an expeditious and effective financial security system be put in place to ensure that shipowners provide compensation to seafarers and their families in the event of abandonment, death or long-term disability due to an occupational injury, illness or hazard.

2. The maritime crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had revealed a dramatic number of uninsured shipowners.

It would appear that the following challenges impede the proper implementation of the financial security requirements brought by the 2014 amendments, i.e.

1. Insufficient mechanisms in place to ensure that vessels cannot trade without valid abandonment insurance;

2. Whilst the definition of abandonment is quite clear, the circumstances surrounding abandonment and the relationships between flag States, shipowners, their insurers and other entities with a commercial interest in the vessel, are extremely varied;

3. While in a number of cases, P&I Clubs have responded promptly to applications and discharged their obligations as intended in others they have not responded.

These impediments have been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the fact that a huge number of ships, even those registered to nations that have accepted the 2014 amendments, generally operate without insurance as intended by the 2014 amendments. It would, therefore, appear that while acceptance of the 2014 amendments to the MLC by a large number of nations remains crucial, it may be more important for States to properly identify what is impeding the proper implementation of the 2014 amendments to the MLC and come up with cogent solutions for the said impediments.