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

Say the second officer falls on a stairway the night before arrival and breaks an arm. Who pays for treatment, how long do wages keep coming, and when is the company off the hook? Regulation 4.2 of the MLC, 2006 and Standard A4.2.1 answer those questions in chronological order. This article walks that timeline.

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).

After landing, the liability cannot be cut below 16 weeks

After repatriation or landing, wages change from full to “in whole or in part” (paragraph 3(b)). How much is for the flag State’s law or a collective agreement to set. But the period has a floor.

2. National laws or regulations may limit the liability of the shipowner to defray the expense of medical care and board and lodging to a period which shall not be less than 16 weeks from the day of the injury or the commencement of the sickness.

National law may cap both the medical and lodging liability (paragraph 2) and the post-landing wage liability (paragraph 4), but neither cap may go below 16 weeks from the day of the injury or the onset of the sickness. Note the starting point: the day of injury, not the day of landing. A month of treatment on board means four of those weeks are already gone by the time the seafarer lands.

There is one way the clock stops early. When the seafarer becomes entitled to cash benefits under the Member’s legislation (sickness benefit or similar social security), the wage liability may end there (paragraph 3(b)). National law may also exempt the shipowner to the extent the public authorities assume the cost of care (paragraph 6).

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.