EC PLANS DIRECTIVE TO LIMIT SEAFARERS’ WORKING HOURS
The European Commission said that it is planning a directive on
working time in the maritime sector that would apply to ships of non-European Union
countries using European ports.
The EC said that the directive would extend the scope of another
directive concerning seafarers’ hours of work on board ships flying an EU flag.
Under the new directive, EU member states would police the application
of international standards on seafarers’ working hours and would be able to detain ships
in European ports.
Seafarers’ maximum working hours and minimum resting hours, already
part of conventions of the International Maritime Organization and the International Labor
Organization, were also restricted last year in an agreement between the European
Community Shipowners’ Associations and the Federation of European Transport Workers’ Trade
Unions.
