Crew
- What is the difference between the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) and the German Maritime Labour Act (Seearbeitsgesetz)?
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) is a treaty under international law to define minimum standards for working and living conditions of seafarers on a global scale. The Maritime Labour Act is the German law which implements the international standard in national legislation.
- What has to be included in a seafarer's employment agreement for it to be consistent with the Maritime Labour Convention and the Maritime Labour Act?
The minimum contents of a seafarer's employment agreement are established in § 28 of the Martime Labour Act. For guidance, we have developed a specimen employment agreement for the German flag.
- Who is responsible for the approval of private seafarer recruitment and placement services?
Private seafarer recruitment and placement services are supervised by the state in which they are headquartered. Recruitment and placement services need to be licensed by that state only. Seafarer recruitment and placement services based in Germany need a licence by the ship safety division of the BG-Verkehr. Further information can be found under "Recruitment of Seafarers".
- How is a ship under the German flag to be manned?
Manning varies as do ships. According to the German Safe Manning Regulation the master has to be a citizen of an EU or EEA State, there is however no general requirement regarding the minimum crew depending on type and trade of ship. The shipowner submits a manning proposal which will be assessed by the administration. The experts in the ship safety division of the BG-Verkehr will be glad to advise you. For further information please refer to “Manning”.
- Do German tariff agreements apply automatically to a ship under the German flag?
No, the German wage tariff agreement (HTV See) and collective tariff agreement (MTV See) apply only, if the shipowning company is a member of the tariff community of the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) and in addition the individual seafarer is a member of the German seafarers’ trade union ver.di (known as double tariff). Follow the link for further information regarding application and legal implications of tariff agreements in ocean shipping.
- What is my annual holiday entitlement and how will I be compensated for overtime and Sunday, holiday and night work as a seafarer on board a German flagged ship?
Every seafarer has a minimum annual holiday entitlement of 30 calendar days (§ 57 of the Maritime Labour Act). Depending on one's individual work performance, compensation days of Sunday, holiday and night work (§ 52 of the Maritme Labour Act) as well as of overtime are added. This compensatory time-off is often granted to be realized in combination with holidays. For example, the Manteltarifvertrag See (MTV-See) provides a generalized holidays/time-off compensation of 12,5 days/month. In this case, any of the seafarer's entitlement regarding holidays, time-off and overtime compensation is fulfilled.
