High-profile Stakeholder Workshop Held
The Institute of Maritime Law, held on 23 June a high-profile stakeholder workshop on ‘The Legal Framework Governing Maritime Labour and Best Practices: Drawing Lessons from the (post-?) COVID-19 Era’.
The timing of the workshop was chosen to be held around this time for 2 main reasons. First to follow the important developments in Geneva and the amendments to the MLC 2006, in which many of the workshop participants had been directly involved for the negotiations and adoption process in May 2022 by the Special Tripartite Committee. The second date being a more symbolic, but as such equally important, to celebrate the international day of the seafarer today. Since 2011 on 25 June each year we take the opportunity to formally recognise the invaluable contribution that seafarers make to international trade and the world economy, often at great personal cost to themselves and their families. On this occasion specific mention was by Mark Russell (GARD) in his farewell dinner speech in highlighting the instrumental initiatives of Gard AS for shipping sustainability with emphasis on the society, governance, and the environment.
The 18 workshop participants from the UK, USA and various EU States identified and addressed matters related to port and flag State enforcement challenges, the contribution of the shipping industry and evolving best practices under the circumstances of the pandemic.
The workshop was led by Dr Alexandros X.M. Ntovas and Dr Iliana Christodoulou-Varotsi (IML Visiting Fellow), with the assistance of Dr Ainhoa Campas Velasco and PhD (cand) Ms Hwon Lee. The workshop comprised a diverse range of stakeholders from the academia, shipping industry at large and the society to explore matters including: how the global pandemic has impacted maritime labour, including seafarers’ wellbeing, the ensuing gaps and the contribution in practical terms of best practices developed by the industry; and to identify the limitations stemming from the ILO MLC 2006 in addressing the health crisis, and the contribution of industry best practice to ensuring return to normality.