MLC requirements do not directly apply to shipowners or ships flying the flag of countries that have not ratified the Convention. However, Article V, paragraph 7, of the MLC, 2006, contains what is often called the “no more favourable treatment clause” It seeks to ensure a “level playing field” under which the ships flying the flag of countries that have ratified the Convention will not be placed at a competitive disadvantage as compared with ships flying the flag of countries that have not ratified the MLC, 2006. Although it appears that Article V, paragraph 7, could conceivably apply in various situations, in practice it relates essentially to the context of port State control under Regulation 5.2.1, with respect to ships flying a foreign flag and calling at a port of a ratifying country