Joint ILO-IMO Meeting Adopts Guidelines On Seafarer Abandonment

Joint ILO-IMO Meeting Adopts Guidelines On Seafarer Abandonment
MI News Network December 21, 2022 https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/joint-ilo-imo-meeting-adopts...

New measures to improve conditions for seafarers, including those who have been abandoned, have been adopted at a meeting involving governments and maritime workers and employers’ organizations.

Guidelines on how to deal with seafarer abandonment have been adopted by the first meeting of a joint International Labour Organization (ILO)–International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tripartite Working Group.

The Guidelines seek to address the significant rise in cases of abandonment of crews reported to the ILO, which have risen from less than 20 cases per year between 2011 to 2016, to 40 in 2019, 85 in 2020, 95 in 2021 and 114 cases as of mid-December 2022. The Guidelines aim to improve coordination among countries, including flag States, port States, States in which seafarers are national or resident, and States in which recruitment and placement services operate, in order to resolve abandonment cases more quickly, including getting seafarers paid and repatriated home to their families.