This decision, agreed at the 101st session of the IMO Legal Committee meeting on 28th April – 2nd May, 2014, followed a survey of IMO member states conducted by Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) requesting information on how the states had passed the guidelines into their laws, or otherwise, given effect to the guidelines.
Some member states who replied to the survey either had already passed all, or some of the principles of the guidelines into their laws, or they already had existing laws to protect the rights of seafarers.
However, other states still have the guidelines under consideration and indicated that model legislation, or information from the IMO, would assist them regarding the meaning of the guidelines and the passing into their respective laws.
The committee called on further states to answer the survey, their responses analysed and for the analysis be reported back to the next session of the Legal Committee in 2015.
Commenting on the outcome of the meeting, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, SRI executive director, said: “Fair treatment of seafarers has been at the core of the work of SRI since its start up. The recent tragic incident of the South Korean ferry disaster ‘Sewol’, and the heart breaking loss of life, has been exacerbated by an apparent rush to judgement and early condemnation of the Master and the crew. What we seek is a fair and just process in accordance with the guidelines in every case.
“It is not just high profile incidents that affect seafarers. Seafarers face many risks crossing maritime boundaries on a daily basis and knowing that they will be accorded fair and proper treatment will make the profession more attractive for new recruits,”she concluded.