Title 4 covers your health and the financial protection you have if you fall ill or are injured.
Medical care on board and ashore (Regulation 4.1)
- Medical care and health protection are provided in principle at no cost to you, as close as possible to what workers ashore receive — including essential dental care.
- Where practicable, you have the right to visit a doctor or dentist without delay in ports of call.
- Every ship carries a medicine chest, medical equipment and a medical guide. Guideline B4.1.1: the medicine chest should be inspected at intervals not exceeding 12 months.
- Ships carrying 100 or more persons on international voyages of more than three days must carry a qualified doctor. Other ships need a designated seafarer trained in medical care or first aid under STCW.
- 24-hour medical advice by radio or satellite is available free of charge to all ships, whatever their flag.
- The medical report form is confidential and used only for your treatment.
Shipowner liability (Regulation 4.2)
- The shipowner bears the costs of sickness and injury occurring between the day you start duty and the day you are duly repatriated.
- Medical treatment, medicines and board and lodging away from home are paid until you recover or the condition is declared permanent. National law may limit this, but not to less than 16 weeks.
- If you cannot work, you get full wages while on board and until repatriated, then full or partial wages under national law (again at least 16 weeks).
- The shipowner must provide financial security for death or long-term disability, and pays burial expenses if death occurs during the engagement.
- Exclusions: injury not in the service of the ship, wilful misconduct, and sickness intentionally concealed when signing on.
Image: Samuel Loxton (artist) / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Health and safety (Regulation 4.3)
- Risk evaluation, training and accident prevention programmes; accidents are reported and investigated.
- A safety committee is established on ships with five or more seafarers, with elected safety representatives.
- Special attention is paid to seafarers under 18.
Welfare and social security (Regulations 4.4, 4.5)
- Shore-based welfare facilities must be open to all seafarers regardless of nationality, religion, sex or flag.
- On ratifying, each State must cover at least three of nine social security branches (medical care, sickness, unemployment, old age, employment injury, family, maternity, invalidity, survivors' benefits).
Practical tip: Ask to see a doctor in port in writing and note the date. After any injury, ask for a copy of the first medical report.
Source: ILO, Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 — Regulations 4.1–4.5. This article is based on the MLC 2006 text published by the ILO and is for general information. Your flag State's law or your collective agreement may give you more favourable terms; in a specific dispute, talk to your union or a lawyer.
Full series: MLC 2006 Guide: Seafarers' Rights
