The Maritime Labour Convention around the world The Maritime Labour Convention around the world 
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The role of flag States in implementing and enforcing the MLC is core to achieving the fundamental aims of the Convention:
MLC Article V states:
“1. Each Member shall implement and enforce laws or regulations or other measures that it has adopted to fulfil its commitments under this Convention with respect to ships and seafarers under its jurisdiction…
The MLC allows Members unique elements of flexibility in implementing the Convention. The Explanatory Note (which does not form part of the Maritime Labour Convention but is intended as a general guide to the Convention) states:
“8. There are two main areas for flexibility in implementation: one is the possibility for a Member, where necessary… to give effect to the detailed requirements of Part A of the Code through substantial equivalence… 9. The second area of flexibility… is provided by formulating the mandatory requirements of many provisions in Part A in a more general way, thus leaving a wider scope for discretion as to the precise action to be provided for at the national level …”.
Some States have made considerable efforts and achievements in implementing and enforcing the MLC, as reported for example by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
Some States have failed to enact any legislation to give effect to the MLC in domestic laws, or have minimum or inadequate implementing laws, sometimes many years after the State ratified the Convention.
The global enforcement of the MLC is fortified by the rights and principles enshrined in 11 other fundamental ILO instruments which are also covered by the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, adopted in 1998 and amended in 2022 (ILO Declaration). Many of these fundamental rights and principles are respected by ILO Members. But only a minority of States appear to have ratified all 11 fundamental instruments covered by the ILO Declaration, consistent with Articles III and IV of the MLC.
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Annual reports on the MLC that States are required to publish on inspection activities are often not readily accessible to third parties. There is a notable lack of uniformity in how and where flag States choose to disclose their annual reports, if published at all. Also, the information seems often to be obscured behind complex website structures, making it difficult to access.
Some States have not provided the ILO with a current list of any recognised organizations authorized to act on their behalf in establishing an effective system for the inspection and certification of maritime labour conditions.
A substantial number of States have not fulfilled their responsibility regarding repatriation of abandoned seafarers as recorded in the “Database on reported incidents of abandonment of seafarers” which contains “a regularly updated list of vessels that have been reported to the ILO as abandoned in various ports of the world by appropriate organizations”. The database is under review. It has been reported that the highest ever number of abandoned ships were recorded in 2023. And more than 100 cases of seafarer abandonment have been recorded in the first three and a half months of 2024.
Watch SRI video on abandonment