ILO adopts labor standards for seafarers

ILO adopts labor standards for seafarers    The International Labor Organization has adopted new work standards for 1.2 million seafarers aboard commercial ships.
   The ILO's new consolidated Maritime Labor Convention, 2006, sets a minimum age of 16 for working aboard ships, as well as improved accommodations, shorter hours of work, and welfare protection.
   'Without ship owners and seafarers, there would be no globalization as we know it today. The text of our convention has gone as far as any text can go in establishing clear definition of rights, while it allows at the same time a necessary degree of national discretion in the delivery of those rights with transparency, consultation and accountability,' said Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, director of the ILO's International Labor Standards Department.
   Countries ratifying the convention may inspect foreign ships arriving at their ports for compliance. Vessels that violate the convention can be barred from sailing until dangerous working conditions are corrected.
   The new standards won't take effect for at least two years, since 30 ILO member states with a total of at least 33 percent of world gross tonnage must first ratify the Maritime Labor Convention.