Article
20 August 2012
When the ILO adopted the Maritime Labour Convention in February 2006, Director-General Juan Somavia called it “making labour history”. Following the ratification by Russia and the Philippines, the Convention will come into force in 12 months’ time. What does this mean for the world’s 1.2 million seafarers?
Article
09 May 2011
Interview with Arthur Bowring, Managing Director of Hong Kong Shipowners Association
Article
05 May 2011
“This training activity is related to flag State ship inspection which is not just important, it is essential for the enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006”. - Interview with Dominick Devlin, Special Advisor on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 and one of the experts involved in the Maritime Labour Academy.
Article
03 May 2011
Interview with Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director, ILO International Labour Standards Department, ILO, Geneva
Article
14 February 2011
The container shipping market represents about 16 per cent of the world’s goods loaded in tonnes. With its growing market share, the risk of accidents also increases, says a report prepared for an ILO Global Dialogue Forum on Safety in the Supply Chain in Relation to Packing of Containers, to be held in Geneva on 21-22 February 2011. The meeting will try to find a common approach throughout the supply chain to ensure the application of the appropriate standards for packing containers.
Article
30 November 2010
The workshop that was held in Nadi, Fiji from 27 to 29 October 2010 brought together seafarers, ship-owners and government labour and maritime officers from Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu to promote the ratification and implementation of the MLC, adopted by the ILO’s International Labour Conference in 2006.
International cooperation
13 October 2009
Faced with a dramatic increase in piracy off the Horn of Africa, countries have stepped up their efforts to protect shipping in the region. However, attention is now turning more to the question of why people turn to piracy to make a living and what can be done to provide an alternative. ILO Online reports from Somalia where an ILO programme financed by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) seeks to provide a visible peace dividend to poor communities by engaging them in large scale employment-intensive projects, together with enterprise skills development and the promotion of social dialogue.
Ship breaking
29 May 2009
After more than five years of negotiation, delegates from 59 countries to an International Maritime Organization (IMO) conference signed the Hong Kong Agreement regulating the recycling of ships on 15 May 2009. For the ILO, the agreement is an important step to make ship breaking decent work. ILO Online spoke with manufacturing specialist David Seligson and maritime industry specialist Dani Appave from the ILO Sectoral Activities Department.
Maritime Labour Convention
23 February 2009
When the ILO adopted the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) on 23 February 2006, Director-General Juan Somavia called it a historic moment for the world’s more than 1.2 million seafarers. Three years on, in line with the ILO’s five-year Action Plan, this key global agreement has now been ratified by five major flag States and key ILO Members, representing nearly 45 per cent of the world’s gross tonnage. Many more Member ratifications supported by international industry agreements are already under way.
Maritime sector
03 November 2008
The last voyage of the ship "Otapan" to a Turkish ship breaking yard last July was a victory for "pre-cleaning" advocates of reducing the human and environmental dangers inherent in ship dismantling and recycling. But does it also lead to decent working practices? Last week, experts from the ILO, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the Basel Convention met to discuss measures to promote guidelines that would make ship breaking not only clean but "green". Questions and answers with a ship breaking expert from the ILO Sectoral Activities Branch.