Recently, one of our FAS-ships was detained in Sweden because the employment agreement of some of the seafarers employed on board did not clearly state the health and social security protection benefits that are to be provided to the seafarer by the shipowner, as stipulated in Standard A2.1.4.h of the Maritime Labour Convention. Specifically, Section J of the standard Faroese Employment Agreement was filled out as “NA”. The Agreement can be found here.
Section J of the above mentioned Agreement can be filled out in two ways:
- If a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) applies, in part or in full, Section J must clearly state which CBA covers the Agreement.
- If no CBA applies to the Agreement, the Employment Agreement must clearly state the shipowner’s or employer’s obligation to provide health protection and social security for the employee.
Therefore, the FMA calls upon all shipowners to do their utmost to assure that all employment agreements for seafarers and masters on board FAS-ships are executed in accordance with the requirements set out in MLC 2006 Standard 2.1, and in compliance with the Faroese Parliamentary Act No. 4 of 15 January 1988 on seafarers’ conditions of employment, etc., with later amendments, thus avoiding similar detentions in the future.
The original Agreement must be kept on board along with other ship documents, and the seafarer and the Faroese Maritime Authority must receive copies of the Agreement.
If there are any questions or queries concerning a seafarer’s employment contract, please do not hesitate to contact Jógvan Hentze, ship surveyor: email: jogvanh@fma.fo, telephone: +298 355600.
/FMA 23 February 2017
