1. CODE OF CONDUCT
Conduct in Emergencies
PARA 5 : In any emergency or other situation in
which the safety of the ship or of any person on
board her, whether crew or passengers, is at
stake the Master, Officers and Petty Officers are
entitled to look for immediate and
unquestioning obedience of orders. There can
be no exception to this rule. Failure to comply
will be treated as among the most serious of
breaches of this Code and will be liable to lead
the offender’s dismissal from the ship (at the
first opportunity) and his Company. It may also
warrant prosecution under the provisions of the
Merchant Shipping Acts.
PARA 9. The following acts of misconduct, if
proved to the reasonable satisfaction of the
Master to have been committed, are those for
which dismissal from the ship either
immediately or at the end of the voyage will,
according to the circumstances of the case, be
considered appropriate apart from any legal
action which may be called for:
i) assault;
ii) willful damage to ship or any property on
board;
iii) theft or possession of stolen property;
iv) possession of offensive weapons;
v) persistent or wilful failure to perform duty;
vi) unlawful possession or distribution of drugs;
vii) conduct endangering the ship or persons on
board;
viii) combination with others at sea to impede
the progress of the voyage or navigation of the
ship;
ix) disobedience of orders relating to safety of
the ship or any person on board;
x) to be asleep on duty or fail to remain on duty,
if such conduct would prejudice the safety of
the ship or any person on board;
xi) incapacity through the influence of drink or
drugs to carry out duty to the prejudice of the
safety of the ship or of any person on board;
xii) to smoke, use a naked light or an
unapproved electric torch in any part of a ship
carrying dangerous cargo or stores where
smoking or the use of naked lights or
unapproved torches is prohibited;
xiii) intimidation, coercion and/or interference
with the work of other employees;
xiv) behaviour which seriously detracts from the
safe and/or efficient working of the ship;
xv) conduct of a sexual nature, or other conduct
based on sex affecting the dignity of women
and men at work which is unwanted,
unreasonable and offensive to the recipient;
xvi) behaviour which seriously detracts from the
social well-being of any other person on board;
xvii) causing or permitting unauthorised persons
to be on board the ship whilst it is at sea;
xviii) repeated commission of breaches of a
lesser degree listed in Paragraph 11 after
warnings have been given in accordance with
the procedures in Paragraph 10.
PARA 10. Breaches of a lesser degree of
seriousness may be dealt with by:
a) informal warning administered at an
appropriate level lower than that of the
Master;
b) formal warning by the Head of Department
which will be suitably recorded;
c) formal warnings by the Master recorded in
the ship’s official logbook;
d) written reprimands administered by the
Master and recorded in the ship’s official
logbook.
When a formal warning is given the seafarer
should be advised of the likely consequences of
further breaches of the Code.

2. PARA 11. Breaches of the Code, if proved to the
reasonable satisfaction of the Master, Officer or
Petty Officer to have been committed, for
which the procedure in Paragraph 10 is
considered appropriate,
are:
a) offences of the kind described at Paragraph
9, which are not considered to justify dismissal
in the particular circumstances of the case;
b) minor acts of negligence, neglect of duty,
disobedience and assault;
c) unsatisfactory work performance;
d) poor time keeping;
e) stopping work before the authorised time;
f) failure to report to work without satisfactory
reason;
g) absence from place of duty or from the ship
without leave;
h) offensive or disorderly behaviour.
NOTE: Whilst Paragraph 11 has been made as
comprehensive as possible, it is recognised that
some companies may wish to propose additions
related
to
their
particular
trading
patterns.Proposals for such additions should be
submitted, after agreement with the
organisations representing the seafarers
concerned, to the Maritime and Coastguard
Agency for approval.
PARA 12:
Procedures for dealing with breaches of the
Code
a) A seafarer who is alleged to have breached
the Code will be seen in the first instance by a
Petty Officer or Officer designated by the
Master. If the Petty Officer or Officer is satisfied
that no further action is called for or that the
breach, although proved, calls for no more than
an informal warning of
the kind referred to at Paragraph 10(a) above,
he will proceed accordingly and the matter will
thereafter be regarded as closed.
b) If the offence is of a more serious nature or is
a repetition of a similar minor offence, a formal
warning will be given and the fact suitably
recorded. Alternatively, the case may be
referred to the Master; any offence falling
under Paragraph 9 must be referred to him
f) The Master will enter details of the breach
and the action taken in the official log.
g) The seafarer shall be given a copy of all
entries made in the logbook relating to his
breach of this Code and shall acknowledge
receipt.
h) The seafarer shall be given a copy of any
report made to the company which directly
relates to the incident for which the seafarer is
subject to disciplinary action.
i) A seafarer shall have the right to be
accompanied by a friend, who may advise him
and speak on his behalf, whenever an alleged
breach of this Code is being considered against
him.
Situations where the seafarer is not summarily
dismissed
The employer must make a written statement
setting out the seafarers’ alleged conduct or
characteristics, or other circumstances, which
led him to contemplate dismissing the seafarer
from employment or taking other relevant
disciplinary action against him or her.
(a) The employer must send a copy of this
statement to the seafarer and invite
him or her to attend the meeting to
discuss the alleged breach. Before the
hearing takes place the seafarer must
be allowed a reasonable opportunity to
consider his or her response to the
employer’s statement. He or she must
also be informed what the basis was for

3. (b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
including in the statement under a) the
ground or grounds given in it
The seafarer must take all reasonable
steps to ensure that he or she attends
the meeting.
The seafarer will be entitled to be
accompanied at the meeting by an
official of his or her union or a fellow
employee. The accompanying person
may speak, but not answer questions,
on behalf of the seafarer. Where a
meeting is held on board a ship with the
master, then the presence of an official
of the seafarer’s union should be
permitted where practicable
The meeting must be conducted in a
manner that enables both the employer
and the seafarer to explain their
respective cases.
After the meeting the employer must
inform the seafarer of his or her
decision. The employer must also notify
the seafarer of his or her right to appeal
if he or she is not satisfied with the
decision.
If the seafarer chooses to appeal, he or
she must inform the company
personnel manager or other person
designated for this purpose within the
company. In the event of an appeal, a
further meeting will be arranged.
As far as is reasonably practicable, the
employer should be represented at the
appeal by a more senior manager than
attended the initial meeting, unless the
most senior manager attended that
meeting.
The seafarer must take all reasonable
steps to attend this meeting. The
seafarer will be entitled to be
accompanied at the meeting by an
official of his or her union or a fellow
employee. The meeting must be
conducted in a manner that enables
both the employer and the seafarer to
explain their respective cases. The
accompanying person may speak, but
not answer questions, on behalf of the
seafarer
(i) After the meeting, the employer must
inform the seafarer of his final decision.
The timing and location of each
meeting must be reasonable.
Situations where the seafarer is summarily
dismissed
In the event that the employer has considered
that the conduct of the seafarer has been of
such nature that he feels justified in terminating
the seafarer’s employment summarily, he must
set out
in writing the seafarer’s alleged misconduct
which has led to the dismissal. The statement
must also state what the basis was for thinking,
at the time of the dismissal, that the seafarer
was guilty of
the alleged misconduct. It must also state that
the seafarer has the right of appeal against the
dismissal.
If the seafarer chooses to appeal, points (g), (i)
and (j) above will apply.
Dismissals
13, 14 and 15 repealed as of 1 October 2004
16. Nothing in this Code of Conduct shall be
read as negating any seafarer’s right to bring an
unfair dismissal claim before an Industrial
Tribunal as provided in the Employment Rights
Act 1996.
MGN 148: Approval of Crew Agreements –
Merchant Ships

4. EXEMPTION FROM REQUIREMENT TO
HAVE A CREW AGREEMENT
The Secretary of State may grant exemptions
from the requirement to have a crew
agreement where he is satisfied that the
seafarers to be employed otherwise than under
a crew agreement will be adequately protected.
APPROVAL OF NON-STANDARD
AGREEMENTS OR EXEMPTIONS (NFD)
Non-standard
agreements,
indefinite
agreements, modifications
to
standard
agreements or applications for an exemption
from the requirement to have a crew
agreement, should be submitted for approval
direct to MSPP 3C, Maritime & Coastguard
Agency
Outer Cover (ALC -1)
An outer protective cover should be provided,
on the front of which provision should be made
for the following information to be recorded:• name of the ship, port of registry and official
number;
• description of the ship, e.g. passenger, tanker,
ferry, general cargo, bulk carrier;
• register (net) tonnage;
• name and address of registered owner or
manager
• Dates and places of commencement and
(if appropriate) termination of the agreement
ALC – 1a(Agreement): list of people entered
into the crew agreement
ALC – 1b(Ballast): Parties exempted from the
articles (supernumeraries, stowaway, etc)
ALC – 1c.(Children): List of children onboard
(below 18 yrs of age)
ALC – 1d.(DO’s and DON’T’s): Terms and
conditions. As per BSF (british shipping
federation) –standard terms and conditions or
NFD (non federated ships) changes in the crew
agreement approved by MCA
ALC 6 : Crew agreement, showing the salient
features of the crew agreement.
REMEMBER:
THE
ALC
IS
ALWAYS
ACCOMPANIED WITH THE OLB AND GMDSS
LOGBOOK
Different types of agreement (to be decided by
the company)
1. Voyage agreement: the articles are
closed at the end of the voyage. Can be
used for a max of 2yrs time.
2. Running agreement: 6 months for a
running agreement for vessels engaged
in frequent short voyages e.g. crosschannel ferries, unless the vessel has a
small crew and a low staff turnover, in
which case the agreement may be
extended to 12 months.
12 months for any other running
agreement
The crew agreement and list of crew
together with the Official Log Book for
the same period must be forwarded to
a superintendent or proper officer
within 3 days of the expiry of the
agreement. If the vessel closes an
agreement at a port outside the United
Kingdom which does not have a
resident British Consul the documents
may be sent by letter post only to The
Registrar General of Shipping and
Seamen
3. Indefinite agreement: No time limits on
the agreement. It can be used until the
articles are not completely filled up.
Where an indefinite crew agreement is

5. opened, a copy must be submitted to the
appropriate superintendent or proper officer on
opening. Thereafter, the employer must submit
a list of crew and the official log book at six
monthly intervals, showing all seafarers who
have joined or left the vessel(s) since the
previous list was submitted with their dates of
joining or leaving. If more convenient, an
updated crew list can be submitted but it must
show all the changes in the six-month period
Crew Not Required to Sign Off on Leaving the
Vessel
Where prior MCA approval has been obtained,
it will not be necessary for seafarers who work
regular periods of duty followed by regular
periods of leave (e.g. 2 weeks on/2 weeks off or
2 weeks on/3 weeks off) and who are paid
continuously throughout the period of the
agreement to sign off the crew agreement on
each occasion that they leave the vessel to go
on leave provided that they are expected to
return to the vessel at the end of the leave
period and before the expiry of the crew
agreement. If, for any reason, a seafarer does
not rejoin the vessel in accordance with the
roster arrangements he / she must be signed off
in his/her absence and re-signed when he/she
rejoins the vessel. The same action must be
taken if the seafarer joins another vessel of the
same fleet; a seafarer cannot be on two crew
agreements at the same time. The seafarer’s
discharge book must also be completed in the
same manner. The joining and leaving of all
members of the crew must be recorded in the
ship’s Official Log Book using their reference
numbers in the list of crew.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED UNDER MLC 2006
Ships required to be inspected and certified for
compliance with the requirements of the MLC,
2006 shall carry and maintain
 Maritime Labour Certificate
 A Declaration of Maritime Labour
Compliance (DMLC) Parts I and II issued
in English
TITLES UNDER MLC 2006
Title 1: Minimum requirements for seafarers to
work on a ship
Title 2: Conditions of employment
Title 3: Accommodation, recreational facilities,
food and catering
Title 4: Health protection, medical care, welfare
and social security protection
Title 5: Compliance and enforcement
MLC comes into force on August 20. It is ratified
by at least 30 Member States representing at
least 33% of the world’s gross tonnage
Some salient features of MLC 2006
 a medical certificate shall be valid for a
maximum period of two years unless
the seafarer is under the age of 18, in
which case the maximum period of
validity shall be one year
 seafarers working on ships that fly its
flag shall have a seafarers’ employment
agreement signed by both the seafarer
and the shipowner or a representative
of the shipowner providing them with
decent working and living conditions on
board the ship as required by this
convention
 Where
a
collective
bargaining
agreement forms all or part of a
seafarers’ employment agreement, a
copy of that agreement shall be
available on board
 Hours of work n rest revised
 Each Member shall ensure that ships
that fly its flag provide and maintain
decent
accommodations
and

6. recreational facilities for seafarers
working or living on board, or both,
consistent
with
promoting
the
seafarers’ health and well-being
 Young seafarers
 1. At sea and in port the following
provisions should apply to all young
seafarers under the age of 18:
(a) working hours should not exceed
eight hours per day and 40 hours per
week and overtime should be worked
only where unavoidable for safety
reasons;
(b) sufficient time should be allowed for
all meals, and a break of at least one
hour for the main meal of the day
should be assured; and
(c) a 15-minute rest period as soon as
possible following each two hours of
continuous work should be allowed.
2. Exceptionally, the provisions of
paragraph 1 of this Guideline need not
be applied if:
(a) they are impracticable for young
seafarers in the deck, engine room and
catering departments assigned to
watchkeeping duties or working on a
rostered shiftwork system; or
(b) the effective training of young
seafarers in accordance with
established programmes and schedules
would be impaired.
3. Such exceptional situations should be
recorded, with reasons, and signed by
the master.
 Each Member shall require that ships
that fly its flag have on-board
procedures for the fair, effective and
expeditious handling of seafarer
complaints alleging breaches of the
requirements of this Convention
(including seafarers’ rights)
 Revised procedures
grievances
for
Certificates obtained under MLC 2006
 MLC 2006 certificate
 Declaration of Maritime Labour
Convention Part 1 & 2
handling