Features

2012

1. 

   Article

   On course for decent shipping

   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?

2011

1. Article

   The MLC, 2006 will benefit both seafarers and quality shipowners

   09 May 2011

   Interview with Arthur Bowring, Managing Director of Hong Kong Shipowners Association

2. Article

   Why training is essential for the enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006

   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.

3. Article

   Making an impact, international progress on implementing the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006

   03 May 2011

   Interview with Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director, ILO International Labour Standards Department, ILO, Geneva

4. 

   Article

   “Any fool can stuff a container?”: ILO to discuss safety in growing container industry

   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.

2010

1. Article

   Pacific regional tripartite workshop considered ILO Maritime Labour Convention

   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.

2009

1. 

   International cooperation

   Somalia: addressing the root causes of piracy and warlordism

   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.

2. 

   Ship breaking

   ILO welcomes new regulations on ship breaking as crisis boosts the industry

   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.

3. 

   Maritime Labour Convention

   Achieving the seafarers’ international bill of rights: more than half way there!

   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.

2008

1. 

   Maritime sector

   Proper ship breaking: a test for globalization and decent work

   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.