C72 - Paid Vacations (Seafarers) Convention, 1946

Adoption: Geneva, 28th ILC session (28 Jun 1946).

[Withdrawn instrument - By decision of the International Labour Conference at its 109th Session (2021)]

Preamble

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Seattle by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Twenty-eighth Session on 6 June 1946, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to holidays with pay for seafarers, which is the sixth item on the agenda of the Session, and

Considering that these proposals involve the total revision of the Holidays with Pay (Sea) Convention, 1936, and must take the form of an international Convention,

adopts this twenty-eighth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-six the following Convention, which may be cited as the Paid Vacations (Seafarers) Convention, 1946:

Article 1

1. 1. This Convention applies to every sea-going mechanically propelled vessel, whether publicly or privately owned, engaged in the transport of cargo or passengers for the purpose of trade and registered in a territory for which this Convention is in force.
2. 2. National laws or regulations shall determine when vessels are to be regarded as sea-going vessels.
3. 3. This Convention does not apply to--
   • (a) wooden vessels of primitive build such as dhows and junks;
   • (b) vessels engaged in fishing or in operations directly connected therewith or in sealing or similar pursuits;
   • (c) estuarial craft.
4. 4. National laws or regulations or collective agreements may provide for the exemption from the provisions of this Convention of vessels of less than 200 gross register tons.

Article 2

1. 1. This Convention applies to every person who is engaged in any capacity on board a vessel except--
   • (a) a pilot not a member of the crew;
   • (b) a doctor not a member of the crew;
   • (c) nursing staff engaged exclusively on nursing duties and hospital staff not members of the crew;
   • (d) persons working exclusively on their own account or remunerated exclusively by a share of profits or earnings;
   • (e) persons not remunerated for their services or remunerated only by a nominal salary or wage;
   • (f) persons employed on board by an employer other than the shipowner, except radio officers or operators in the service of a wireless telegraphy company;
   • (g) travelling dockers (longshoremen) not members of the crew;
   • (h) persons employed in whale-catching vessels, in floating factories, or otherwise for the purpose of whaling or similar operations under conditions regulated by the provisions of a special collective whaling or similar agreement determining the rates of pay, hours of work and other conditions of service concluded by an organisation of seafarers;
   • (i) persons employed in port who are not ordinarily employed at sea.
2. 2. The competent authority may, after consultation with the organisations of shipowners and seafarers concerned, exempt from the application of the Convention masters, chief navigating officers and chief engineers who by virtue of national laws or regulations or collective agreements enjoy conditions of service which are not less favourable in respect of annual leave than those required by the Convention.

Article 3

1. 1. Every person to whom this Convention applies shall be entitled after twelve months of continuous service to an annual vacation holiday with pay, the duration of which shall be--
   • (a) in the case of masters, officers and radio officers or operators, not less than eighteen working days for each year of service;
   • (b) in the case of other members of the crew, not less than twelve working days for each year of service.
2. 2. A person with not less than six months of continuous service shall on leaving such service be entitled in respect of each complete month of service to one and a half working days' leave in the case of a master, officer, or radio officer or operator, and one working day's leave in the case of another member of the crew.
3. 3. A person who is discharged through no fault of his own before he has completed six months of continuous service shall on leaving such service be entitled in respect of each complete month of service to one and a half working days' leave in the case of a master, officer, or radio officer or operator, and one working day's leave in the case of another member of the crew.
4. 4. For the purpose of calculating when a vacation holiday is due--
   • (a) service off articles shall be included in the reckoning of continuous service;
   • (b) short interruptions of service not due to the act or fault of the employee and not exceeding a total of six weeks in any twelve months shall not be deemed to break the continuity of the periods of service which precede and follow them;
   • (c) continuity of service shall not be deemed to be interrupted by any change in the management or ownership of the vessel or vessels in which the person concerned has served.
5. 5. The following shall not be included in the annual vacation holiday with pay:
   • (a) public and customary holidays;
   • (b) interruptions of service due to sickness or injury.
6. 6. National laws or regulations or collective agreements may provide for the division into parts of an annual vacation holiday due in virtue of this Convention or for the accumulation of such a vacation holiday due in respect of one year with a subsequent vacation holiday.
7. 7. National laws or regulations or collective agreements may, in very exceptional circumstances when the service so requires, provide for the substitution for an annual vacation holiday due in virtue of this Convention of a cash payment at least equivalent to the remuneration provided for in Article 5.

Article 4

1. 1. When an annual vacation holiday is due it shall be given by mutual agreement at the first opportunity as the requirements of the service allow.
2. 2. No person may be required without his consent to take the annual vacation holiday due to him at a port other than a port in the territory of engagement or a port in his home territory. Subject to this requirement, the vacation holiday shall be given at a port permitted by national laws or regulations or collective agreement.

Article 5

1. 1. Every person taking a vacation holiday in virtue of Article 3 of this Convention shall receive in respect of the full period of the vacation holiday his usual remuneration.
2. 2. The usual remuneration payable in virtue of the preceding paragraph shall include a suitable subsistence allowance and shall be calculated in a manner which shall be prescribed by national laws or regulations or fixed by collective agreement.

Article 6

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 7 of Article 3 any agreement to relinquish the right to an annual vacation holiday with pay, or to forego such a vacation holiday, shall be void.

Article 7

A person who leaves or is discharged from the service of his employer before he has taken a vacation holiday due to him shall receive in respect of every day of vacation holiday due to him in virtue of this Convention the remuneration provided for in Article 5.

Article 8

Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall ensure the effective application of its provisions.

Article 9

Nothing in this Convention shall affect any law, award, custom or agreement between shipowners and seamen which ensures more favourable conditions than those provided by this Convention.

Article 10

1. 1. Effect may be given to this Convention by (a) laws or regulations; (b) collective agreements between shipowners and seafarers; or (c) a combination of laws or regulations and collective agreements between shipowners and seafarers. Except as may be otherwise provided herein, the provisions of this Convention shall be made applicable to every vessel registered in the territory of the ratifying Member and to every person engaged on any such vessel.
2. 2. Where effect has been given to any provision of this Convention by a collective agreement in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this Article, then, notwithstanding anything contained in Article 8 of this Convention, the Member in whose territory the agreement is in force shall not be required to take any measures in pursuance of Article 8 in respect of the provisions of the Convention to which effect has been given by collective agreement.
3. 3. Each Member ratifying this Convention shall supply to the Director-General of the International Labour Office information on the measures by which the Convention is applied, including particulars of any collective agreements which give effect to any of its provisions and are in force at the date when the Member ratifies the Convention.
4. 4. Each Member ratifying this Convention undertakes to take part, by means of a tripartite delegation, in any committee representative of Governments and shipowners' and seafarers' organisations, and including in an advisory capacity representatives of the Joint Maritime Commission of the International Labour Office, which may be set up for the purpose of examining the measures taken to give effect to the Convention.
5. 5. The Director-General will lay before the said Committee a summary of the information received by him under paragraph 3 above.
6. 6. The Committee shall consider whether the collective agreements reported to it give full effect to the provisions of this Convention. Each Member ratifying the Convention undertakes to give consideration to any observations or suggestions concerning the application of the Convention made by the Committee and further undertakes to bring to the notice of the organisations of employers and of workers who are parties to any of the collective agreements mentioned in paragraph 1 any observations or suggestions of the aforesaid Committee concerning the degree to which such agreements give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

Article 11

For the purpose of Article 17 of the Holidays with Pay (Sea) Convention, 1936, the present Convention shall be regarded as a Convention revising that Convention.

Article 12

The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.

Article 13

1. 1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
2. 2. It shall come into force six months after the date on which there have been registered ratifications by nine of the following countries: United States of America, Argentine Republic, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and Yugoslavia, including at least five countries each of which has at least one million gross register tons of shipping. This provision is included for the purpose of facilitating and encouraging early ratification of the Convention by Member States.
3. 3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member six months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.

Article 14

1. 1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
2. 2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.

Article 15

1. 1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all the Members of the International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. 2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the last of the ratifications required to bring the Convention into force, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.

Article 16

The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Articles.

Article 17

At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.

Article 18

1. 1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides,
   • (a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 14 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
   • (b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force, this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. 2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 19

The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.

C71 - Seafarers' Pensions Convention, 1946

Adoption: Geneva, 28th ILC session (28 Jun 1946) - Status: Instrument to be revised (Technical Convention).

1. Convention may be denou6ced: 10 Oct 2032 - 10 Oct 2033

Preamble

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Seattle by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Twenty-eighth Session on 6 June 1946, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to seafarers' pensions, which is included in the second item on the agenda of the Session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,

adopts this twenty-eighth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-six the following Convention, which may be cited as the Seafarers' Pensions Convention, 1946:

Article 1

In this Convention the term seafarer includes every person employed on board or in the service of any sea-going vessel, other than a ship of war, which is registered in a territory for which the Convention is in force.

Article 2

1. 1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation for which this Convention is in force shall, in accordance with national laws or regulations, establish or secure the establishment of a scheme for the payment of pensions to seafarers on retirement from sea service.
2. 2. The scheme may embody such exceptions as the Member deems necessary in respect of--
   • (a) persons employed on board or in the service of--
     • (i) vessels of public authorities when such vessels are not engaged in trade;
     • (ii) vessels which are not engaged in the transport of cargo or passengers for the purpose of trade;
     • (iii) fishing vessels;
     • (iv) vessels engaged in hunting seals;
     • (v) vessels of less than 200 gross register tons;
     • (vi) wooden ships of primitive build such as dhows and junks;
     • (vii) in so far as ships registered in India are concerned and for a period not exceeding five years from the date of the registration of the ratification of the Convention by India, home-trade vessels of a gross register tonnage not exceeding 300 tons;
   • (b) members of the shipowner's family;
   • (c) pilots not members of the crew;
   • (d) persons employed on board or in the service of the ship by an employer other than the shipowner, except radio officers or operators and catering staff;
   • (e) persons employed in port who are not ordinarily employed at sea;
   • (f) salaried employees in the service of a national public authority who are entitled to benefits at least equivalent on the whole to those provided for in this Convention;
   • (g) persons not remunerated for their services or remunerated only by a nominal salary or wage, or remunerated exclusively by a share of profits;
   • (h) persons working exclusively on their own account;
   • (i) persons employed on board or in the service of whale-catching, floating factory or transport vessels or otherwise for the purpose of whaling or similar operations under conditions regulated by the provisions of a special collective whaling or similar agreement determining the rates of pay, hours of work and other conditions of service concluded by an organisation of seafarers concerned;
   • (j) persons not resident in the territory of the Member;
   • (k) persons not nationals of the Member.

Article 3

1. 1. The scheme shall comply with one of the following conditions:
   • (a) the pensions provided by the scheme--
     • (i) shall be payable to seafarers having completed a prescribed period of sea service on attaining the age of fifty-five or sixty years as may be prescribed by the scheme; and
     • (ii) shall, together with any other social security pension payable simultaneously to the pensioner, be at a rate not less than the total obtained by computing for each year of his sea service 1.5 per cent. of the remuneration on the basis of which contributions were paid in respect of him for that year if the scheme provides pensions on attaining the age of fifty-five years or 2 per cent. of such remuneration if the scheme provides pensions at the age of sixty years; or
   • (b) the scheme shall provide pensions the financing of which, together with the financing of any other social security pension payable simultaneously to the pensioner and any social security benefits payable to the dependants (as defined by national laws or regulations) of deceased pensioners, requires a premium income from all sources which is not less than 10 per cent. of the total remuneration on the basis of which contributions are paid to the scheme.
2. 2. Seafarers collectively shall not contribute more than half the cost of the pensions payable under the scheme.

Article 4

1. 1. The scheme shall make appropriate provision for the maintenance of rights in course of acquisition by persons ceasing to be subject thereto or for the payment to such persons of a benefit representing a return for the contributions credited to their account.
2. 2. The scheme shall grant a right of appeal in any dispute arising thereunder.
3. 3. The scheme may provide for the forfeiture or suspension of the right to a pension in whole or in part if the person concerned has acted fraudulently.
4. 4. The shipowners and the seafarers who contribute to the cost of the pensions payable under the scheme shall be entitled to participate through representatives in the management of the scheme.

Article 5

The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.

Article 6

1. 1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
2. 2. It shall come into force six months after the date on which there have been registered ratifications by five of the following countries: United States of America, Argentine Republic, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and Yugoslavia, including at least three countries each of which has at least one million gross register tons of shipping. This provision is included for the purpose of facilitating and encouraging early ratification of the Convention by Member States.
3. 3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member six months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.

Article 7

1. 1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
2. 2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.

Article 8

1. 1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. 2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the last of the ratifications required to bring the Convention into force, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.

Article 9

The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the preceding articles.

Article 10

At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.

Article 11

1. 1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
   • (a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 7 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
   • (b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. 2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 12

The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.

C70 - Social Security (Seafarers) Convention, 1946

Adoption: Geneva, 28th ILC session (28 Jun 1946).

[Withdrawn instrument - By decision of the International Labour Conference at its 111th Session (2023)]

Preamble

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Seattle by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Twenty-eighth Session on 6 June 1946, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to social security for seafarers, which is the second item on the agenda of the Session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,

adopts this twenty-eighth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-six the following Convention, which may be cited as the Social Security (Seafarers) Convention, 1946:

Article 1

1. 1. In this Convention--
   • (a) the term seafarer includes every person employed on board or in the service of any sea-going vessel, other than a ship of war, which is registered in a territory for which this Convention is in force;
   • (b) the term dependant shall have the meaning assigned to it by national laws or regulations; and
   • (c) the term repatriation means transportation to a port to which a seafarer is entitled to be returned in accordance with national laws or regulations.
2. 2. Any Member may in its national laws or regulations make such exceptions as it deems necessary in respect of--
   • (a) persons employed on board or in the service of--
     • (i) vessels of public authorities when such vessels are not engaged in trade;
     • (ii) coastwise fishing boats;
     • (iii) boats of less than twenty-five tons gross register tonnage;
     • (iv) wooden ships of primitive build such as dhows and junks; and
     • (v) in so far as ships registered in India are concerned and for a period not exceeding five years from the date of registration of the ratification of this Convention by India, home trade vessels of a gross register tonnage not exceeding 300 tons;
   • (b) members of the shipowner's family;
   • (c) pilots not members of the crew;
   • (d) persons employed on board or in the service of the ship by an employer other than the shipowner, except radio officers or operators and catering staff;
   • (e) persons employed in port who are not ordinarily employed at sea;
   • (f) salaried employees in the service of a national public authority who are entitled to benefits at least equivalent on the whole to those provided for in this Convention;
   • (g) persons not remunerated for their services or remunerated only by a nominal salary or wage;
   • (h) persons working exclusively on their own account.
3. 3. Where any benefit provided for in this Convention is furnished otherwise than in virtue of national laws or regulations relating to the liability of the shipowner in respect of sickness, injury or death of seafarers, such further exceptions as are deemed necessary may be made in national laws, regulations or collective agreements in respect of the right to such benefit and any obligation to contribute of--
   • (a) persons remunerated exclusively by a share of profits;
   • (b) persons employed on board or in the service of fishing vessels for whom an exception is not already permitted under paragraph 2 (a) (ii) of this Article or on board or in the service of vessels engaged in hunting seals;
   • (c) persons employed on board or in the service of whale-catching, floating factory or transport vessels or otherwise for the purpose of whaling or similar operations under conditions regulated by the provisions of a special collective whaling or similar agreement determining the rates of pay, hours of work and other conditions of service concluded by an organisation of seafarers concerned;
   • (d) persons employed on board or in the service of vessels which are not engaged in the transport of cargo or passengers for the purposes of trade; and
   • (e) persons employed on board or in the service of vessels of less than 200 gross register tons.

Article 2

1. 1. Seafarers and their dependants who are resident and present in the territory of a Member shall be entitled in virtue of the seafarer's employment on board or in the service of vessels registered in the territory of that Member to the following benefits:
   • (a) seafarers shall be entitled to medical benefit not less favourable in respect of conditions of award, extent and duration than that to which industrial workers are entitled; in so far as industrial workers are not entitled to medical benefit, seafarers shall be entitled to proper and sufficient medical care;
   • (b) seafarers shall be entitled in respect of incapacity for work (whether due to employment injury or not) and in respect of unemployment and old age to cash benefits not less favourable in respect of conditions of award, amount and duration than those to which industrial workers are entitled; in so far as industrial workers are not entitled to cash benefits in respect of incapacity for work (whether due to employment injury or not) seafarers shall be entitled to such benefits at rates commensurate, having regard to the standard of living in the territory, with their needs and those of their dependants;
   • (c) the dependants of a seafarer shall be entitled to medical benefit not less favourable in respect of conditions of award, extent and duration than that to which the dependants of industrial workers are entitled;
   • (d) on the death of a seafarer his dependants shall be entitled to cash benefits not less favourable in respect of conditions of award, amount and duration than those to which the dependants of industrial workers are entitled; in so far as the dependants of industrial workers are not entitled to cash benefits in the event of the death of the worker, the dependants of seafarers shall be entitled to such benefits at a rate commensurate, having regard to the standard of living in the territory, with their needs.
2. 2. Where medical or cash benefits for seafarers and their dependants are provided under any special scheme, such special provisions (other than those resulting from shipowners' liability) shall be appropriately co-ordinated or integrated with any scheme which applies to industrial workers and their dependants and provides corresponding benefits not less favourable in respect of conditions of award, extent or amount, and duration.

Article 3

1. 1. A seafarer resident in the territory in which the vessel is registered who is left behind in another territory by reason of injury in the service of the ship or sickness not due to his own wilful act shall be entitled to--
   • (a) proper and sufficient medical care until he is cured or repatriated, whichever first occurs;
   • (b) board and lodging until he is able to obtain suitable employment or is repatriated, whichever first occurs; and
   • (c) repatriation.
2. 2. Such a seafarer shall also be entitled to an allowance equal to 100 per cent. of his wages (exclusive of bonuses) until he is able to obtain suitable employment, or until he is repatriated, or until the expiry of a period of a length prescribed by national laws or regulations or by collective agreement, which period shall not be less than twelve weeks, whichever event first occurs. If the prescribed period expires before the seafarer is able to obtain suitable employment or is repatriated, he or his dependants shall be entitled to any benefit under a scheme of compulsory social insurance or workmen's compensation which would be payable if the seafarer were present in the territory of registration. Any benefit payable to the seafarer or his dependants under such a scheme prior to the expiry of the prescribed period may be deducted from the allowance.

Article 4

Arrangements for the maintenance of rights in course of acquisition by a person who, having ceased to be subject to a scheme of compulsory social insurance for seafarers, becomes subject to such a scheme for shoreworkers, or, having ceased to be subject to such a scheme for shoreworkers, becomes subject to such a scheme for seafarers, shall be made between the schemes concerned.

Article 5

National laws and regulations relating to the liability of the shipowner in respect of sickness, injury or death of seafarers, compulsory insurance against employment injury or workmen's compensation, compulsory sickness insurance and compulsory unemployment insurance shall ensure equality of treatment to seafarers and their dependants irrespective of nationality or race.

Article 6

1. 1. National laws and regulations relating to the liability of the shipowner in respect of sickness, injury or death of seafarers shall ensure equality of treatment to seafarers and their dependants whether or not they reside in the territory in which the vessel is registered.
2. 2. Where the laws or regulations of a Member relating to the liability of shipowners do not entitle seafarers resident outside its territory to the benefits prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 3, the Member shall provide these benefits by other laws or regulations.

Article 7

1. 1. The laws and regulations of a Member relating to medical and cash benefits in case of employment injury shall not impose on seafarers or their dependants resident in the territory of any other Member for which this Convention is in effective operation any condition or limitation which does not apply equally to seafarers and their dependants resident in the territory of the first Member.
2. 2. Provided that no such benefits and no contributions towards the cost of such benefits shall be payable under the scheme in force in the territory of the first Member if they are payable in respect of such seafarers under any scheme in force in the territory of the second Member.

Article 8

In order to facilitate continuity of insurance and to eliminate double contributions and double benefits, Members may enter into agreements providing that nationals or residents of one Member employed on board or in the service of a vessel registered in the territory of another Member shall be subject to an insurance or compensation scheme of the first Member and therefore excluded from the corresponding scheme of the second Member.

Article 9

Nothing in this Convention shall affect any law, award, custom or agreement between shipowners and seafarers which ensures to the seafarers conditions more favourable than those provided for by this Convention.

Article 10

1. 1. Effect may be given to paragraph 2 of Article 3 of this Convention by (a) laws or regulations; (b) collective agreements between recognised associations of shipowners or shipowners and recognised associations of seafarers which cover all seafarers to whom the said paragraph applies; or (c) a combination of laws or regulations and collective agreements between recognised associations of shipowners or shipowners and recognised associations of seafarers which cover all seafarers to whom the said paragraph applies. Except as may be otherwise provided herein, the provisions of this Convention shall be made applicable to every vessel registered in the territory of the ratifying Member and to every person engaged on any such vessel.
2. 2. Each Member ratifying this Convention shall supply to the Director-General of the International Labour Office information on the measures by which the Convention is applied, including particulars of any collective agreements which give effect to any of its provisions and are in force at the date when the Member ratifies the Convention.
3. 3. Each Member ratifying the Convention undertakes to take part, by means of a tripartite delegation, in any committee representative of Governments and shipowners' and seafarers' organisations, and including in an advisory capacity representatives of the Joint Maritime Commission of the International Labour Office, which may be set up for the purpose of examining the measures taken to give effect to the Convention.
4. 4. The Director-General will lay before the said Committee a summary of the information received by him under paragraph 2 above.
5. 5. The Committee shall consider whether the collective agreements reported to it give effect to the provisions of the Convention. Each Member ratifying the Convention undertakes to give consideration to any observations or suggestions concerning the application of the Convention made by the Committee and further undertakes to bring to the notice of the organisations of employers and of workers who are parties to any of the collective agreements mentioned in paragraph 1 any observations or suggestions of the aforesaid Committee concerning the degree to which such agreements give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

Article 11

The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.

Article 12

1. 1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
2. 2. It shall come into force six months after the date on which there have been registered ratifications by seven of the following countries: United States of America, Argentine Republic, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and Yugoslavia, including at least four countries each of which has at least one million gross register tons of shipping. This provision is included for the purpose of facilitating and encouraging early ratification of the Convention by Member States.
3. 3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member six months after the date on which its ratification has been registered.

Article 13

1. 1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
2. 2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.

Article 14

1. 1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all the Members of the International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
2. 2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the last ratification required to bring the Convention into force, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.

Article 15

The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the preceding articles.

Article 16

At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.

Article 17

1. 1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
   • (a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 13 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;
   • (b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.
2. 2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 18

The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.