Crew members bundle a rope ladder aboard a ship as it leaves Inchon port, South Korea. China's ratification of the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention will protect the rights of the nation's 620,000 merchant sailors.(Photo/China Daily)
China's ratification of the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention will improve conditions in the world's third-largest merchant fleet and attract more people into the industry.
In 2001, when Zhao Changyou became a merchant sailor at age 25, the first job he was given was scrubbing the greasy floor of a cargo ship's engine room.
The noise was deafening, and the temperature was usually higher than 40 C. Away from his job, there was no bathroom in the cabin he shared with another sailor.
Working conditions have improved greatly in the past 15 years, according to Zhao, who is now chief engineer on an oceangoing freighter. "At least every member of the crew has their own cabin," he said.
Despite recent improvements, the working environment is still tough.
Having recently returned after a two-month voyage in the Pacific, Zhao said his family, in East China's Anhui province, complained that he spoke too loudly, as if he was shouting at them, but without noticing.
"I am used to shouting when working in the noisy engine room, and the noise may have caused some hearing loss, even though I wear earplugs," he said. "Mariners' living and working conditions still need to be improved, or people will leave an industry that is very important to the national economy."
Seafarers' Bill of Rights
Last month, China formally completed its ratification of the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention, also known as the Seafarers' Bill of Rights, designed to promote greater adherence to employment law in the shipping industry.
Established by the International Labour Organization, the convention sets minimum requirements for almost every aspect of working conditions at sea, including terms of employment, hours of work and rest, accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering, health protection, medical care, welfare provision and social security protection.
When the convention comes into force in China on Nov 12, 2016, sailors serving on merchant ships flying the Chinese flag will be guaranteed standard working conditions.
"Welfare standards for seafarers must be safeguarded by legislation," said Yu Hongjiang, consultative director at the Maritime Safety Administration. "Many Chinese seafarers sign up for temporary contracts with few benefits," he said, adding that few mariners have health insurance.
Furthermore, wage arrears are commonplace, and it's not unusual for companies to hold salaries back for three to four months. In some cases Yu has studied, the sailors were forced to wait more than two years to receive wages they were owed, despite repeated protests to the shipowners and maritime officials.
According to Yu, when a mariner signs a five-month contract, the employer will usually pay a percentage of his wage at the start, usually 50 or 30 percent, but when the contract ends, it's highly likely that the employee will not receive the remainder of his payment.
The situation gets worse if an occupational injury occurs. "The risk of injury or even death is high when working on the open ocean. Employers definitely don't want to pay for cover, and if the sailors don't have insurance, they have to pay all the costs themselves," he said. "Of course they can sue, but it takes years, and even more money, to get a result."
The decline of the shipping industry since the 2008 global economic crisis has placed shipowners under even more pressure, he said.
"Let's say hiring a sailor costs 10,000 yuan ($1,500) a month. If the sailor asks for benefits and insurance, it pushes the cost up to 40,000 or 50,000 yuan a month, so the shipowners will try anything to avoid paying for insurance," he said.
The convention will ensure decent working and living conditions for sailors, and will also protect shipowners who provide decent working conditions for their employees from unfair competition from substandard operators, he said.
Global importance
China is one of the most important maritime nations in the world, with the third-largest merchant fleet and the biggest number of seafarers－620,000, one-third of the global total.
"The ratification of the convention is not only a prerequisite for the Chinese shipping industry, it's also critical for the industry worldwide, and even more important for the global economy," Yu said.
Since 2010, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, the country's largest global shipping business, has made efforts to keep in step with international labor standards.
After launching a pilot project on one of its cargo ships in 2010, COSCO imposed the convention's standards on all its vessels in 2013.
Inspections are much more detailed for uncertified ships, and a "no more favorable treatment" clause in the convention is designed to ensure that the ship has complied with the convention's provisions.
In that way, the convention also applies indirectly to ships of non-member countries if they plan to call at ports owned by a member state, according to Jia Guangchao, a human resources manager at COSCO.
"We were determined to meet the standard anyway. So, since the very beginning, COSCO has invested a lot to implement the convention," he said.
Recruitment shortfall
COSCO believes that experienced, motivated sailors are among the most important resources for shipping companies, so they deserve decent working conditions and welfare provision.
"We give a dozen seafarers a ship and cargo worth a combined $1 bill-ion and let them take it out on the ocean. We have to trust them. We have to build a strong connection with them by providing good jobs and careers they can be proud of," he said, adding that fewer people are willing to work as sailors now.
In 1993, when Jia made his first voyage, as a young officer on a cargo ship, he earned more than 2,000 yuan a month, an enviable sum at a time when the average monthly income in Beijing was no more than 1,000 yuan.
Now, though, the monthly salary of an ordinary mariner ranges from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, little higher than white collar workers in big cities, he said.
"When I was studying navigation in Dalian (Liaoning province), I had classmates from big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, but now few people from those cities join the shipping industry," he said. "Even among students who study related majors, 10 percent abandon maritime work after their first voyage."
Liu Yue, a 39-year-old freighter captain, said that when he joined the industry 18 years ago, his friends in his hometown in Jiangsu province all envied him because his salary was five times higher than theirs, and he was able to travel overseas, which was still a luxury for most Chinese.
"Now, many young sailors on my ship are thinking about quitting. I'm disappointed, but I understand. Working on the ocean is tough and now the income has fallen, they have more choices on land," he said.
"I hope the convention will improve working and living conditions and make being a mariner a respectable profession."
