Seacurus calls for speedy MLC implementation

Agreement was reached between shipowners, governments, seafarers, NGOs and other organisations meeting at the special Tripartite Committee of the MLC this month.

Thomas Brown, managing director, Seacurus, said: “This is a decision which should be welcomed by all parties in the maritime industry. Now that it has been taken, it is in everybody’s interest to press ahead without delay.”

All parties were willing to see abandonment provisions included in the Convention. Draft amendments were duly finalised and accepted.

The amendments will now be submitted to the International Labour Conference in June 2014, after which a prescribed period will be set for member states to register any disagreement to the changes. The amendments will come into force six months thereafter.

If approved, member states will be required to ensure ships sailing under their flags maintain a financial security system to cover incidents like personal injury or death, long-term disability or abandonment. Vessels will also be required to carry a certificate proving their coverage, in the form of either insurance, a national fund, social security scheme or similar arrangements.

“The requirement for cover will be mandatory on all shipowners, thereby eliminating any uncertainty,” explained Mr Brown.

Such cover already exists in the form of the CrewSEACURE policy created last year by Seacurus which provides indemnification in the event of the financial default of seafarers’ employers, and offers recompense in respect of unpaid crew wages.

“The policy will enable all employers of seafarers to meet their regulatory obligations under MLC 2006. The cover is available now, and it is affordable,” added Mr Brown.

Seacurus is a specialist marine insurance intermediary, founded in 2004. Since then it has focused on protecting the insured from un-forecasted impacts on the balance sheet, which could be down to a credit default, a hijacking, a charter party cancellation or a disruption to the voyage due to a political event.