MLC 2006 Port State Control
Regulation 5.2.1 and Standard A5.2.1: the triggers for a detailed inspection, the complaint route, detention, and the relationship to the MoU regimes.
Port state control under the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 is a freestanding regime in Title 5, exercised through the same memorandum of understanding machinery as other port state control. It is a common error to treat memorandum inspections as covering only SOLAS and MARPOL.
Regulation 5.2.1(1) permits any foreign ship calling at a Member’s port to be inspected for compliance. Regulation 5.2.1(2) makes the Maritime Labour Certificate and the Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance prima facie evidence, so inspection is normally limited to reviewing them. Standard A5.2.1(1) sets the triggers for a more detailed inspection, which include clear grounds for believing that working and living conditions do not conform, and a seafarer complaint.
The article will cover those triggers in full, the on-board and onshore complaint procedures, the conditions under which a ship may be detained, the rectification and follow-up mechanics, and how MLC deficiencies are recorded and published by the Paris and Tokyo memorandum regimes.