The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) is referred to as the fourth pillar of international maritime law, alongside SOLAS (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea), MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) and STCW (International Convention for Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping).
It is also referred to as the Seafarers’ Bill of Rights.
The events of COVID-19 have changed the landscape. It has been well documented that core provisions of the MLC have been denied, diminished or ignored during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a living instrument, the MLC needs to be kept under constant review and inline with the changes of the maritime industry.
SRI is conducting comprehensive research to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation and enforcement of the MLC.
Further updates will be available in due course.