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

Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147) - Trinidad and Tobago (Ratification: 1999)

Article 2(a)(ii). Social security measures. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that detailed provisions on shipboard conditions of employment including seafarers’ health protection are set out in Part VIII of the Shipping Act (Chapter 50:10), and that additional regulations governing those areas are forthcoming. The Committee, notes, however, that the Government has provided no response regarding 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, and thus the Committee is unable to assess the substantial equivalence of its social security legislation to the requirements of the selected Convention. The Committee again requests the Government to determine which of these three Conventions, it intends to apply for the purposes of substantial equivalence. Please also indicate the specific provisions of the national legislation substantially equivalent to the selected Convention and provide copies of any relevant laws or regulations which may not have been previously communicated to the Office.

Article 2(d)(i). Complaints with respect to the engagement of seafarers. The Committee notes the Government’s previous indication that under section 153 of the Shipping Act, the Registrar of Seamen is empowered to receive complaints arising in connection with the engagement of seafarers on Trinidad and Tobago-flagged ships. Recalling that detailed provisions on complaint-handling procedures have been incorporated in Regulations 5.1.5, 5.2.2 and the corresponding Code of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), the Committee requests the Government to indicate any specific rules or regulations setting out the practical arrangements for the examination of complaints.

Article 2(e). Qualification of seafarers. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Shipping (Training, Certification, Safe Manning, Hours of Work and Watchkeeping) Regulations, 2002 are being upgraded to include also officers. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of the amended regulations once they are adopted. It also requests the Government to indicate whether training programmes cover aspects such as accident prevention, navigation, seamanship, use of electronic aids, ship handling, signalling, cargo handling and stowage, ship maintenance, medical care, use of life-saving and fire-fighting equipment, as recommended by the Dock Work Convention, 1973 (No. 137).

Article 4 and Part IV of the report form. Port State control – Practical application. The Committee notes that according to the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (CMOU) Annual Report 2010, Trinidad and Tobago carried out the second greatest number of port State inspections among the CMOU members, with 174 inspections in 2010. Recalling the Government’s earlier indication that no measures are necessary in respect of this Article of the Convention, the Committee again requests the Government to describe the procedures put in place for verifying compliance of foreign-flagged ships calling in Trinidad and Tobago ports with the standards of this Convention and to give details on the practical functioning of existing arrangements (e.g. number of inspectors, statistics on inspections carried out and results obtained, number of ships detained, sample copies of inspection checklists or inspection report forms, and activity reports of port authorities).

Finally, the Committee wishes to recall that Convention No. 147, together with 36 other international maritime labour Conventions, has been 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 innovative 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 requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any action taken or planned for the ratification and effective implementation of the MLC, 2006. It also requests the Government to indicate any follow-up to the Hemispheric Conference on Rapid and Widespread Ratification and Effective Implementation of Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC), which took place in Barbados from 7 to 9 September 2009.