Setting sail for a decent future

More than 300 senior representatives of seafarers, shipowners and governments are meeting in Geneva (15 to 26 September) to discuss the new Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC).The MLC is described as a “bill of rights” for the world’s more than 1.2 million seafarers. This month’s meetings support a five-year ILO action plan designed to get the Convention into force by 2011. The discussions will adopt guidelines for flag State inspections and port State control officers, But the MLC is already having a positive effect on seafarers’ lives, as ILO Online found out on board the ship, “City of London”.