Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 19 April 2022 to Question 150233 on Shipping, what the (a) working time and (b) rest hours are under that convention.

There are international standards for rest hours under both the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) and the International Maritime Organization’s Convention on the Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, 1978 as amended (STCW).

The MLC allows ratifying countries to fix either a maximum number of hours of work which shall not be exceeded in a given period of time, or a minimum number of hours of rest which shall be provided in a given period of time.

The maximum hours of work set by the MLC are 14 hours in any 24-hour period and 72 hours in any seven-day period. The minimum hours of rest for seafarers set by both the MLC and STCW are 10 hours in any 24-hour period and 77 hours in any seven-day period. Hours of rest may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which shall be at least six hours in length, and the interval between consecutive periods of rest must not exceed 14 hours. The United Kingdom legislation fixes minimum hours of rest in accordance with the above provisions.