MLC 2006 Turns 20: What the 2025 Amendments Actually Change for Seafarers

Twenty Years of the Seafarers' Bill of Rights

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 — often called the seafarers' 'bill of rights' — marked its 20th anniversary in 2026. The ILO and IMO jointly reaffirmed the Convention's role in setting minimum standards for seafarer working and living conditions across virtually the entire global merchant fleet. But the anniversary wasn't just ceremonial: it landed alongside a real, substantive round of amendments, adopted at the International Labour Conference in June 2025, that change what MLC 2006 actually requires.

What's Actually Changing

The Special Tripartite Committee of the MLC, the body responsible for keeping the Convention current, adopted amendments covering five distinct areas:

• Key worker designation. Seafarers are formally recognised as key workers — a status that matters directly for crew change, border access, and repatriation during disruptions (the exact kind of situation that stranded hundreds of thousands of seafarers during COVID-era port closures).
• Strengthened repatriation requirements. The amendments tighten the existing repatriation obligations on shipowners, building on the abandonment-related Standard A2.5.2 provisions already in force.
• Visa-free shore leave. New provisions push toward guaranteeing shore leave access without requiring a visa — addressing a long-standing practical barrier that's kept seafarers effectively confined aboard in many ports.
• Enhanced anti-bullying and harassment protections. Formal strengthening of protections against bullying and harassment specifically within the maritime workplace context.
• Carriage of a medical guide. A new recommendation that ships carry the ICS International Medical Guide for Seafarers and Fishers on board — a direct response to seafarers being, in the ILO's own words, among the most isolated people on earth when it comes to accessing medical care.

When Does This Actually Apply?

The amendments were adopted at the International Labour Conference (2–13 June 2025) and are expected to enter into force by December 2027, following the Convention's standard tacit-acceptance procedure. That's not a typo or a long way off by maritime regulatory standards — but it does mean nothing on this list is enforceable yet. Don't expect your current CBA, SEA, or flag state inspection regime to reflect these changes until the entry-into-force date actually arrives.

Why the 20-Year Framing Matters

MLC 2006 was itself a consolidation exercise — folding together roughly 68 earlier, fragmented ILO maritime labour instruments into one convention with real teeth (Port State Control inspection, a certification regime, a genuine enforcement mechanism). The Special Tripartite Committee structure that produced these 2025 amendments exists specifically so the Convention doesn't calcify the way its predecessors did — it's designed to be amended as real conditions change, not re-negotiated from scratch every time. The shore leave and repatriation changes in particular respond directly to lessons from COVID-era crew change failures, not abstract policy drift.

Check Your Vessel

• All crew: Ask your DPA or manning agent whether your flag state has indicated a ratification timeline for the 2025 amendments — some flag states move faster than the December 2027 backstop.
• Officers: If your vessel doesn't currently carry a recognised international medical guide, this is worth raising directly — it's a real recommendation now, not wait-and-see guidance.
• All crew: If you've experienced a shore leave denial due to visa requirements, that's exactly the practical problem these amendments are aimed at — worth documenting via your union or welfare organisation as part of the evidence base for implementation.

Source: International Labour Organization — Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended; Special Tripartite Committee amendments adopted at the International Labour Conference, 2–13 June 2025. See also the ILO/IMO joint statement marking the Convention's 20th anniversary, and the International Chamber of Shipping's coverage of the amendments.