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FIFTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group on
liability and compensation regarding claims for
death, personal injury and abandonment of seafarers

1. In a letter of 9 July 1998 addressed to the Director-General of the ILO, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) submitted a proposal made by the 77th Session of the Legal Committee of the IMO (April 1998) to establish a Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group to consider the subject of liability and compensation regarding claims for death, personal injury and abandonment of seafarers.

2. The proposal was made within the framework of the ongoing work in the Legal Committee regarding the introduction of international rules for the provision of financial security for maritime claims. In this regard, the Committee considered the scope of a review of the Athens Convention related to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974. The Committee agreed on the need to ensure, through the operation of appropriate international instruments, the rights of seafarers to appropriate compensation for loss of life, personal injury and abandonment.

3. The Legal Committee suggested the following terms of reference for the Joint Working Group:

1. to examine the issue of financial security for crew members and their dependants with regard to the payment of compensation in cases of death and personal injury and abandonment, taking into account relevant IMO (including those elaborated under the joint auspices of the United Nations and IMO) and ILO instruments;
2. to prepare an evaluation which should include the following:
   1. an assessment of the extent of the potential problem;
   2. the adequacy and effectiveness of existing applicable international instruments (which should also be listed);
   3. suitable recommendations to the IMO Legal Committee and/or the ILO Governing Body, as appropriate.

4. The Office has consulted the Shipowners' and Seafarers' groups of the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC) about the above issues. Both support the establishment of the Ad Hoc Expert Working Group, and they agree on its terms of reference. Furthermore, they recommend that it should be comprised of eight participants from the ILO (four Shipowner and four Seafarer representatives) and eight participants from the IMO. They also agreed that, since the ILO has no specific resources included in the Programme and Budget for 1998-99, ILO participants will not require reimbursement by the Office for travel and daily subsistence costs. The Shipowners and Seafarers have asked for the report of the Ad Hoc Expert Working Group to be submitted for comment to the next session of the Joint Maritime Commission. The Office has included in the proposed programme of sectoral meetings for 2000-2001, a session of the JMC.⁽¹⁾

5. The Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues may wish to recommend that the Governing Body --

1. authorize the holding of a Joint IMO/ILO Ad Hoc Expert Working Group on liability and compensation regarding claims for death, personal injury and abandonment of seafarers, at a venue to be decided after consultations between the Secretary-General of the IMO and the Director-General of the ILO, with a maximum duration of five working days and a composition of eight ILO participants (four Shipowner and four Seafarer representatives) and eight IMO representatives;
2. request the Director-General to communicate the decision to the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.

Geneva 7 October 1998.

Point for decision: Paragraph 5.

1. GB.273/STM/1.