Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) - India (Ratification: 2015)

The Committee notes the Government’s third report on the application of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC, 2006), as well as the observations of the International Transport Workers’ Federation’s (ITF) received on 1 September 2025.

Regulation 1.4 and the Code of the Convention. Recruitment and placement. The Committee notes the observations of ITF alleging a number of serious failures to uphold MLC, 2006 requirements in relation to the recruitment and placement of Indian seafarers. According to ITF, weakness in effectively enforcing MLC, 2006 requirements on recruitment and placement, not only allows financial exploitation of seafarers but also results in a disproportionate number of Indian seafarers being abandoned. Among the concerns raised, the Committee notes the payment of placement fees which remains the norm for Indian seafarers. In instances, seafarers reported demands for gifts, unpaid apprenticeships, or payments for agency fees, visas, travel expenses, medical expenses, and, in some cases, even sexual favours. Indian seafarers surveyed indicated that they were asked to pay such fees either by a crewing or manning agent, another company or person linked to a crewing/manning agent or shipping company, through online recruitment platforms or by the shipping company itself. According to ITF, this suggests that there are many company types, individuals, online and offline who are engaged in extorting money out of seafarers in this way and recruitment fees usually vary between US$1,000 to US$5,000 (while some seafarers have paid less (US$100), other have paid more than US$10,000). The Committee further notes the observations of ITF deploring the lack of contract transparency and pointing to significant discrepancies between the positions promised to seafarers and those experienced upon joining a vessel. Despite the scale of the problem, very few seafarers come forward to report violations, as they do not know where to report such incidents or are not aware that it is illegal to charge recruitment fees to seafarers. While noting the efforts taken by the Directorate General of Shipping, ITF underline its limitations, as the Merchant Shipping Act, while requiring all recruitment and placement services to acquire a licence prior to conducting any business, does not contain provisions for penalties or legal action against unlicensed agencies, nor does the Directorate General of Shipping have the requisite powers to take any action against an unregistered agent. The prevalence of fraudulent recruitment and placement practices underpins the proliferation of substandard shipping, leading to abandonment in some cases. According to the joint IMO/ILO Database on Abandoned Seafarers, in 2024 the largest nationality group of abandoned seafarers was Indian – 916 seafarers, equating to almost 30 per cent of the total number of seafarers abandoned that year. In 2025, India is set to top the list again with a tally to date of 677 Indian seafarers abandoned. Noting with concern the allegations submitted by ITF, and having examined the information available at the Office regarding individual complaints of Indian seafarers affected by fraudulent recruitment and placement agencies based in India, as well in the IMO/ILO Database on abandoned seafarers, the Committee requests the Government to adopt the necessary measures without delay to ensure full compliance with Regulation 1.4 and Standard A1.4, paragraphs 2, 5, 6 and 7. The Committee further requests the Government to provide its comments in relation to the observations transmitted by ITF.

Regulation 1.4 and Standard A1.4, paragraph 5(c)(vi). Recruitment and placement. System of protection. Further to the Committee's previous comment on the fact that the system of protection by way of Rule 5(g) of the Merchant Shipping (Recruitment and Placement of Seafarers) Rules, 2016, is applicable to foreign flagships only, the Government indicates that recruitment and placement services are required to furnish a bank guarantee irrespective of whether they place seafarers on Indian-flagged or foreign-flagged ships. While noting this information, the Committee has not identified provisions requiring that, in respect of Indian-flagged ships, recruitment and placement services submit a bank guarantee to cover the costs resulting from the failure of a recruitment and placement service or the relevant shipowner under the seafarers’ employment agreement to meet its obligations to them, , as required by the Convention. The Government refers to the provisions of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) incorporating this requirement. The Committee observes, however, that the National Maritime Board (India) – NMB(I) Collective Bargaining Agreement for the period 2024–27 (hereafter NMB CBA), submitted by the Government, and section 62(6) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 provides for the shipowners’ liability to repatriate, to provide support in the event a seafarer is stranded, detained, arrested or in captivity and for the responsibility of recruitment and placement services to ensure that shipowners have the financial security to support seafarers in those situations. It observes that these provisions do not comply with the requirement of Standard A1.4, paragraph 5(c)(vi). The Committee further notes in this regard ITF’s indication that recruitment agencies providing unscrupulous services lack systems of insurance or equivalent to act as the required safety net, specifically required under Standard A1.4, paragraph 5(c)(vi). Recalling that such system of protection should be established by the seafarer recruitment and placement services, in addition to any insurances provided by the shipowner under Standards A2.5.2 and A4.2.2, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures without delay to ensure that it complies, in law and in practice, with Standard 1.4, paragraph 5(c)(vi) of the Convention. In relation to the 2022 amendments to the Code, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that seafarers are informed, prior to or in the process of engagement, of their rights under the system of protection required by Standard A1.4, paragraph 5(c)(vi).

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.