Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958 (No. 108) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 1964)

The Committee requested the Government to provide its comments in relation to the observations submitted by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and its affiliate Nautilus International concerning the importance of ratifying the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003, as amended (No. 185). The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its report, that (1) in 2019, it carried out an initial engagement with stakeholders on the possible ratification of Convention No. 185, including the UK Chamber of Shipping, representing shipowners, and Nautilus International and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, representing seafarers; (2) the responses from these three organisations gave clear support to the ratification; (3) the ratification would also create the opportunity to extend the eligibility for a UK seafarer identity document to fishers who are not eligible under the UK’s implementing legislation for Convention No. 108; (4) it has declared its intention to work over the next five years towards the ratification of Convention No. 185 in “Maritime 2050: Navigating the future”, a statement of the Government’s vision for the maritime sector published in January 2019; and (5) while the intention to make progress towards the ratification has been hindered most recently by the need to dedicate resources to addressing COVID-19 related issues, it is now fully engaged in the process.

The Committee recalls that, in the framework of the Standards Review Mechanism, the ILO Governing Body, as recommended by the Special Tripartite Committee on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC, 2006), classified Convention No. 108 as “outdated”. At its 343rd Session (November 2021), the Governing Body requested the Office to encourage Member States that are still bound by Convention No. 108 to ratify Convention No. 185. In this context, the Committee welcomes the intention of the Government, supported by social partners, to ratify Convention No. 185 and encourages it to examine the possibility to extend its application to the non-metropolitan territories still bound by Convention No. 108.