Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

Article 2(a)(i). Safety standards – Standards of competency. The Committee understands that Decree No. 83 on approval of normative acts relating to the safety of navigation has been adopted in order to bring legislation on maritime transport into line with 1995 amendments to the International Convention on Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). The Committee also understands that new regulations on issuance and registration of certificates have been issued setting up the requirements for the qualification of crew members on board Azeri-registered ships. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide copies of these documents.

Article 2(a)(ii). Social security measures. Noting that the Government has not responded to its previous request on this point, the Committee again requests the Government to determine which of the three Conventions, i.e. the Shipowners’ Liability (Sick and Injured Seamen) Convention, 1936 (No. 55), the Sickness Insurance (Sea) Convention, 1936 (No. 56), or the Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention, 1969 (No. 130), it intends to apply for the purposes of this Convention. Please also provide copies of any relevant laws or regulations which may not have been transmitted previously to the Office.

Article 2(a)(iii). Shipboard conditions of employment – Articles of agreement. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes that the Merchant Shipping Code of 2001 is silent as regards the issuance of seafarers’ records of employment. The Committee therefore asks the Government to clarify how substantial equivalence is ensured with Article 5 of the Seamen’s Articles of Agreement Convention, 1926 (No. 22), which provides that every seafarer must be given a document containing a record of employment on board the vessel and that this document should not contain any statement as to the quality of the seafarer’s work or the amount of the seafarer’s wages. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that the same requirement has been incorporated in Standard A2.1(1)(e) of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). In addition, the Committee recalls the Government’s earlier reference to a collective agreement concluded between the management and the employees of the State Caspian Maritime Shipping Company. The Committee would appreciate receiving a copy of the collective agreement in question.

Article 2(d)(ii). Complaints with respect to engagement of seafarers. The Committee again requests the Government to describe the existing procedures, if any, for the examination of complaints made in connection with the engagement in its territory of seafarers, both nationals and non-nationals, on foreign-registered ships. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that detailed provisions on complaints concerning the recruitment and placement of seafarers have been incorporated in Regulations 5.1.5 and 5.2.2, Standard A1.4(7) and the corresponding Code of the MLC, 2006.

Article 2(e). Vocational training. While noting the Government’s reference to section 44 of the Merchant Shipping Code, the Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on seafarers’ training activities (curricula, duration, financing) and the training institutions involved. It also requests the Government to indicate whether training programmes cover aspects such as accident prevention, navigation, seamanship, radio, electronics, engineering, catering, cargo handling and ship maintenance, use of life-saving and fire-fighting equipment, as well as personnel relations, as recommended by the Vocational Training (Seafarers) Recommendation, 1970 (No. 137).

Articles 2(f) and 4. Ship inspections. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the State Maritime Administration (RASMA), established under Presidential Decree No. 697, is the executive body responsible for safety of navigation, accident investigation and flag State and port State policies. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on: (i) the organization and functioning of the services responsible for the periodic inspection of the working and living conditions on board Azeri-registered vessels (e.g. size of the inspection staff, types and frequency of inspections, statistics on the number and results of inspection visits, number and nature of complaints received and action taken); and (ii) the measures taken – including detention – to rectify any conditions on board foreign-flagged ships visiting Azeri ports which are clearly hazardous to the seafarers’ health or safety. Please also supply statistical information on the number and results of port State control visits.

Part IV 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, statistics on flag State and port State inspections, copies of any standardized inspection checklist or inspection report form, copies of applicable collective agreements, and activity reports of port authorities.

Finally, the Committee seizes this opportunity to recall that Convention No. 147, together with 36 other international maritime labour Conventions, is revised by the MLC, 2006. It also recalls that the notion of substantial equivalence has been incorporated and further defined in Article VI(3) and (4) of the MLC, 2006, while an innovatory and comprehensive inspection regime is established in Title 5 of the Convention. In this latter respect, the Committee wishes to highlight the adoption by an ILO tripartite experts’ meeting in September 2008 of the Guidelines for flag State inspections and the Guidelines for port State Control Officers, as an essential aspect of ensuring widespread harmonized implementation of the MLC, 2006. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any progress made in the process of ratification and effective implementation of the MLC, 2006.