Seafarers have not always worked under acceptable conditions, affecting their health and safety, well-being, and safety of board ships. Since their working lives are spent outside the home country and their employers are also often abroad, effective international standards are necessary. Standards must be implemented nationally, particularly by governments with a ship registry authorizing ships to fly their flag (flag States). This is used to ensure safety and security of ships and protecting the marine environment. Many flag States and shipowners actively provide their seafarers with decent conditions of work but face unfair competition by being undercut by shipowners operating substandard ships.
A joint resolution in 2001 by the international seafarers’ and shipowners’ organizations, later supported by government recognised shipping as the world’s first genuinely global industry requiring an international regulatory set of appropriate global standards for the industry. ILO was asked to develop an instrument consolidating most of its existing instruments to make them more relevant to all stakeholders needs. The plethora of existing maritime Conventions were very detailed, difficult for governments to ratify and enforce, out dated and did not reflect contemporary working and living conditions on board ships. Many were poorly ratified and there was a need for more effective enforcement and compliance to eliminate substandard ships to work within the established IMO enforcement system of international standards. The MLC specifically addresses these concerns and protects seafarers through national level implementation.