Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the contribution of the Maritime Labour Convention to (a) pay, (b) welfare standards and (c) safety within the UK shipping industry in the last ten years.

The UK takes seafarer safety and welfare seriously having implemented the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006, in the UK since 2014. The UK takes an active role in the international Committee which keeps the MLC under review. The UK also undertakes and publishes regular post-implementation reviews of its own MLC implementing legislation. The Government is preparing to attend the Special Tripartite Committee at the International Labour Organization in April 2025 to negotiate further amendments to improve safety and welfare for seafarers.

The MLC sets standards on the frequency and composition of seafarer wages but not the level of pay. Within the International Labour Organization, the Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers of the Joint Maritime Commission set the international minimum wage for seafarers.

A joint Tripartite Working Group allows UK shipowner and seafarer representatives to meet with the Government on a regular basis to report safety or welfare concerns that arise.