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Seamen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926 (No. 22) - Anguilla

Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention. Conditions for signing and content of articles of agreement. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 of the United Kingdom is extended to Anguilla by virtue of section 1(1)(c) of the Act which defines British ships as ships registered under the law of a relevant British possession. It also notes that section 1(3) of the Merchant Shipping Act defines United Kingdom ships separately to mean ships registered in the United Kingdom. The Committee further notes that section 25 of the Merchant Shipping Act, which regulates crew agreements, only refers to persons employed as seamen on United Kingdom ships. The Committee therefore asks the Government to clarify how it is ensured that the provisions of the UK Merchant Shipping Act of 1995 regarding crew agreements and related regulations are applied to ships registered in Anguilla.

In addition, the Committee notes that neither the Merchant Shipping Act of 1995 nor the Merchant Shipping (Crew Agreements, Lists of Crew and Discharge of Seamen) Regulations 1991 and the Merchant Shipping Notice M. 1498 contain specific provisions to ensure that seafarers and their advisers are given reasonable facilities to examine the articles of agreement before signing them (Article 3(1)). The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to effectively implement this requirement of the Convention. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that the requirement to give an opportunity to seafarers to examine and seek advice on the agreement before signing in order to ensure that they have freely entered into an agreement with sufficient understanding of their rights and responsibilities, is now reflected in Standard A2.1(1)(b) of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), while the list of particulars that need to appear in the seafarer’s employment agreement has been extended in Standard A2.1(4) of the MLC, 2006, to include, among others, health and social security benefits and the seafarer’s entitlement to repatriation. Recalling that ensuring compliance with Convention No. 22 would facilitate the implementation of the corresponding requirements of the MLC, 2006, the Committee asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any progress made towards the effective implementation of the MLC, 2006.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide up-to-date information on the practical application of the Convention, including for instance, the number of seafarers covered by the relevant legislation, any standard form of crew agreement and discharge document currently in use, sample copies of seafarers’ employment agreements, copies of applicable collective agreements and inspection results showing any infringements observed and action taken.