The port of Genoa: 20 kilometres along the ligurian coast and Italy's leader in terms of cargo handling. With an estimated 60,000 employees, it is also the province's main source of employment. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

By handling more than 25.4 million tons of general cargo in 2004, the port of Genoa confirmed its position as one of the Mediterranean's leading ports. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

Lieutenant Vincenzo Paolo Leone is a member of the coast guard and one of three port state control officers ("PSCOs"). PSCOs are officers specially trained and authorized to carry out inspections of foreign ships coming into port. They carry out inspections of ships to check that the ships comply with international standards for ship safety, marine pollution prevention and for decent working and living conditions for seafarers. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

On this day of late September, the Coast Guard is inspecting what seems to be a good ship. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

These inspections in foreign ports complement and support the inspections of these ships that must be carried out by their flag States. It is Lt. Leone's second ship inspection today. He is hoping that this ship will be as problem free as it appears on first sight. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

The "Y M Orchid", a 275 meter long recently built cargo ship operating under the flag of Panama, is in perfect condition. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

When asked how he feels about these inspections, Captain Sheng-Jou Yau, the ship's master, says that "we have too many flag State and port State controls under different regional agreements although the standards are more or less the same". Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

At this point of the conversation, a young seafarer, Ms Wang Chung-Hai, joins us. The young cadet breaks many stereotypes. She is one of the world's 1-2 per cent women seafarers and hopes to become one of the even rarer women officers or ship captains one day. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

The next ship we visit that day with Lt. Leone is quite different. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

As it is in repair, he cannot effect a proper inspection today but he will certainly do so when welding and paint work is finished. A poster on board is impressive: "Some enclosed spaces on the ship may contain a dangerous atmosphere that will not support life". Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

A euphemism for Dante's Inferno - that's at least the impression we have when one of the craftsmen in his oil and water resistant outfit suddenly emerges from one of the holes giving access to the bottom of the ship. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

His mask protects him against the poisonous vapours emanating from the hold. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

According to Lieutenant Leone, these are "deficiencies" that can lead to the detention of a ship. In Genoa, 25 out of 82 ships inspected under port State control have been detained in 2007. When asked about the worst ship he has ever seen, he says: "When I was still a cadet I accompanied an inspector on a vessel where even the life boat was not operational". Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

Although some observers believe port State control now unnecessary, the contrary is true. After several years of declining rates of detention rates in the European Union, the past two years have seen a reversal with detentions on the rise again. With Bulgaria and Romania joining the Memorandum in 2007, the 27 member States of the agreement have carried out 22,875 inspections in 2007. For the second year in a row, the number of detentions has risen, from 944 in 2005 to 1,174 in 2006 and 1,250 in 2007. Photo:ILO/

Certain areas of deficiencies also show increases compared with 2006: certification of crew (15.4%), safety (6.5%), security (5.4%), marine pollution and environment (13.9%), working and living conditions (16,3%), operational (19.2%) and management problems (50.9%). Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

Since its creation in 1919, the ILO has been actively working to ensure decent working and living conditions for seafarers while at sea and in ports. A key step was taken in 2006, when the ILO's International Labour Conference adopted a major new Convention, the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) that consolidated and updated almost all of the existing maritime labour instruments. It also contains an important section devoted to strengthening compliance and enforcement through effective flag State inspection and ship certification and through port State control. The MLC, 2006 will come into force 12 months after ratification by at least 30 ILO member States with a total share of at least 33 percent of the world's gross tonnage of ships. So far, it's been ratified by three major flag states representing nearly 20 percent of the the world's gross tonnage, while many other countries have taken steps towards its ratification. The adoption of the port and flag state control guidelines last month in Geneva was considered a major step in this direction. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.

"When we look at the maritime world from the PSCOs' perspective, we can still see seafarers sailing on dangerous ships, ships causing pollution, working and living conditions which are substantially below minimum international standards. I am confident that the new ILO guidelines on flag State inspection and the related guidelines for port State control officers, combined with the underlying Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 can meet these challenges and set a safe course to the future", concludes Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, director of the ILO's International Labour Standards Department. Photo:ILO/Crozet M.