Shipowner liability for seafarer sickness and injury and the 16-week floor (MLC Regulation 4.2)

MLC, 2006 Regulation 4.2 and Standard A4.2.1 set the scope and duration of shipowner liability for a seafarer’s illness, injury or death. Treatment costs, wages, exclusions and financial security have separate requirements.

Liability runs from the day duty begins to the day repatriation ends

(a) shipowners shall be liable to bear the costs for seafarers working on their ships in respect of sickness and injury of the seafarers occurring between the date of commencing duty and the date upon which they are deemed duly repatriated, or arising from their employment between those dates;

The period comes first. Sickness and injury occurring between the date of commencing duty and the date the seafarer is deemed duly repatriated are covered. So is anything arising from the employment between those dates.

This is where the provision parts ways with the usual workers-compensation idea. The text does not first ask “did the work cause it”. If it happened within the period, the shipowner bears it, and the exceptions open only later, and only where national law has enacted them. A cold that turns into pneumonia on board is inside this provision without any inquiry into whether the job caused it.

While on board, both medical care and wages are paid in full

The scope of medical care is set by Standard A4.2.1, paragraph 1(c): medical treatment, the necessary medicines and therapeutic appliances, and board and lodging away from home. It ends when the seafarer has recovered, or when the condition is declared permanent.

Wages are paragraph 3(a): as long as the sick or injured seafarer remains on board, and until repatriation under the Convention, wages are paid in full. A Guideline adds that full wages may be calculated exclusive of bonuses (B4.2.1, paragraph 1).

Sixteen weeks is the floor for a statutory limit on liability

Under A4.2.1 paragraphs 2 and 4, national law may cap liability for care, board and lodging and post-landing wages, but that cap must be at least 16 weeks from injury or onset of sickness. This does not guarantee every seafarer 16 weeks of payment after landing.

Care, board and lodging normally continue until recovery or a finding of permanent sickness or incapacity. Post-landing or post-repatriation wages are payable wholly or partly under national law or collective agreements until recovery or an earlier entitlement to statutory cash benefits. National law also governs exemptions where public authorities assume costs. Check the separate injury, landing, medical-determination and benefit-entitlement dates.

The company can be released only in three cases, and only where national law says so

5. National laws or regulations may exclude the shipowner from liability in respect of: (a) injury incurred otherwise than in the service of the ship; (b) injury or sickness due to the wilful misconduct of the sick, injured or deceased seafarer; and (c) sickness or infirmity intentionally concealed when the engagement is entered into.

None of the three applies automatically. The exclusion exists only where national law has enacted it.

One more reading matters. Item (a) speaks of injury only. What can be excluded for happening outside the service of the ship is injury; sickness is not in (a). The only ways to exclude sickness are wilful misconduct (b) and a condition intentionally concealed at engagement (c). A sickness during the service period that looks unrelated to work still stays on the shipowner unless one of those two applies.

On death, burial costs and a direct claim for the family remain

If death occurs on board or ashore during the period of engagement, burial expenses are on the shipowner (paragraph 1(d)). Property left on board by sick, injured or deceased seafarers must be safeguarded and returned to them or their next of kin (paragraph 7).

Compensation for death and long-term disability runs through contractual claims (Standard A4.2.2), and minimum requirements attach (paragraph 8). The contractual compensation is paid in full and without delay; there must be no pressure to accept less than the contractual amount; and where the disability is hard to assess, interim payments must be made to avoid undue hardship. The claim can be brought directly by the seafarer, the next of kin, a representative, or a designated beneficiary.

The financial security certificate must be posted where seafarers can see it

So that none of this rests on a promise alone, the shipowner must hold financial security for death and long-term disability compensation (paragraph 1(b)).

11. Each Member shall require that ships that fly its flag carry on board a certificate or other documentary evidence of financial security issued by the financial security provider. A copy shall be posted in a conspicuous place on board where it is available to the seafarers. Where more than one financial security provider provides cover, the document provided by each provider shall be carried on board.

The certificate is carried on board and a copy is posted where seafarers can see it. With more than one provider, every provider’s document is carried. The certificate must be in English or carry an English translation, and contain the information required by Appendix A4-I (paragraph 14). Lapses are controlled too: the security cannot end during its period of validity unless the provider has given the flag State at least 30 days’ notice (paragraph 12), and seafarers must be notified in advance of cancellation or termination (paragraph 9).

What to check

The quotations are from the consolidated text of the MLC, 2006 (including the 2022 amendments), printed pages 63 to 65. Standards A4.2.1 and A4.2.2 are mandatory, but the post-landing wage proportion and period, and whether any of the three exclusions exist at all, are set by flag State law and collective agreements. The practical starting points are: how many weeks the 16-week floor has been extended to under that flag, which of the three exclusions has actually been enacted, and whether the financial security certificate on board is still within its period of validity.

You can consult the cited source documents

These links lead to the official publishers of the documents discussed here. Match the edition and provisions cited in the article, and check subsequent amendments and flag-state implementation before applying them.

• ILO · MLC, 2006 (2022)

Continue with the related operational guidance

• The two conditions for carrying a doctor and the free reach of radio medical advice (MLC Regulation 4.1)
• Three of the nine social security branches and the split between flag and residence (MLC Regulation 4.5)