DMLC Part 1

Maritime Labour Convention, 2006

Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance – Part I

(Note: This Declaration must be attached to the ship’s Maritime Labour Certificate)

Issued under the authority of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas

With respect to the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, the
following referenced ship:

Name of Ship IMO Number Gross Tonnage

is maintained in accordance with Standard A5.1.3 of the Convention.

The undersigned declares, on behalf of the abovementioned competent authority, that:

(a) the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention are fully embodied in the
national requirements referred to below;

(b) these national requirements are contained in the national provisions referenced
below; explanations concerning the content of those provisions are provided
where necessary;

(c) the details of any substantial equivalencies under Article VI, paragraphs 3 and 4,
are provided <under the corresponding national requirement listed below> <in
the section provided for this purpose below> (strike out the statement which is not
applicable);

(d) any exemptions granted by the competent authority in accordance with Title 3
are clearly indicated in the section provided for this purpose below; and

(e) any ship-type specific requirements under national legislation are also referenced
under the requirements concerned.

Reference should be made to the THE MERCHANT SHIPPING (MARITIME

LABOUR CONVENTION) REGULATIONS 2010 as amended, for the base
requirements, other regulations or bulletins as detailed.

1. Minimum age (Regulation 1.1)

No person under the age of 16 shall be employed or engaged or work on board a ship.

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No seafarer under the age of 18 shall work at night. ‘Night’ means a period of at least nine
hours starting no later than midnight and ending no earlier than 5 a.m. Exceptions from the
prohibition on night work for seafarers under 18 are set out in BMA Bulletin BXXX as
amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

No person under the age of 18 shall be employed or engaged or work on board a ship where
the work is likely to jeopardize their health or safety (see in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended
or any bulletin subsequently replacing it).

2. Medical certification (Regulation 1.2)

Prior to beginning work on a ship, seafarers shall hold a valid medical certificate attesting they
are medically fit to perform the duties they are to carry out at sea.

The nature of medical examination (including eyesight and colour standards) and certificate is
set out in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

3. Qualifications of seafarers (Regulation 1.3)

Seafarers shall not work on a ship unless –

(a) they are trained or certified as competent or otherwise qualified to perform their duties; and
(b) they have successfully completed training for personal safety on board ship.

Training and certification shall be to the STCW Convention as amended and relevant
international standards adopted by the IMO and accepted by The Bahamas.

4. Seafarers’ employment agreements (Regulation 2.1)

The content of seafarer employment agreements are set out in BMA Bulletin BXXX as
amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

The duration of the minimum notice periods to be given by seafarers and shipowners on
Bahamian ships for the early termination of a seafarer’s employment agreement shall be agreed
after consultation and be stated in the Seafarers’ employment agreements, but shall not be less
than seven days. Deviations from this period authorised by the Director may be allowed as
stated in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

5. Use of any licensed or certified or regulated private recruitment and placement

service (Regulation 1.4)

The operator of every private seafarer recruitment and placement service in The Bahamas,
shall only be operated in conformity with a licence issued by the Director (see in BMA
Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it).

Shipowners who use seafarer recruitment and placement services that are based in countries or
territories in which this Convention does not apply, shall ensure that those services conform to
the requirements of in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently
replacing it.

6. Hours of work or rest (Regulation 2.3)

The limits on hours of work or rest shall be as follows:

(a) maximum hours of work shall not exceed:
(i) 14 hours in any 24-hour period; and
(ii) 72 hours in any seven-day period;

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or
(b) minimum hours of rest shall not be less than:
(i) ten hours in any 24-hour period; and
(ii) 77 hours in any seven-day period.

The minimum hours of rest may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which shall
be at least six hours in length, and the interval between consecutive periods of rest shall not
exceed 14 hours. In calculating the rest hours a fixed datum in a seafarer’s working day shall
be used (see in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it).

Records of seafarers’ daily hours of rest shall be maintained for a period of 3 years. The
records shall be in a format stated in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin
subsequently replacing it. Seafarers shall receive a copy of the records pertaining to them
which shall be endorsed by the master, or a person authorized by the master, and by the
seafarers.

There shall be posted, in an easily accessible place on board ship, a table with the shipboard
working arrangements, which shall contain for every position at least:
(a) the schedule of service at sea and service in port; and
(b) the minimum hours of rest as above or regulations or applicable collective agreements.

The circumstances in which deviations from the hours of work and rest are set out in BMA
Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

7. Manning levels for the ship (Regulation 2.7)

All Bahamian ships shall have a sufficient number of seafarers on board to comply with their
safe manning document. (BMA Bulletin B115 as amended or any bulletin subsequently
replacing it).

8. Accommodation (Regulation 3.1)

Bahamian ships shall, meet such standards as to ensure that any accommodation for seafarers,
working or living on board, or both, is safe, decent and in accordance with in BMA Bulletin
B128 as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

Paragraphs in this section apply to new ships, unless otherwise stated. A ‘new ship’ means a
ship constructed on or after the Convention comes into force for The Bahamas. Bahamian
ships which are not new shall continue to be subject to the Merchant Shipping (Crew
Accommodation) Regulations 1978.

Weekly inspections shall be carried out onboard all ships, by or under the authority of, the
master, to ensure that seafarer accommodation is clean, decently habitable and maintained in a
good state of repair. The results of such inspections shall be recorded in the official log book

The circumstances in which variations and deviations from the standards may be made are
detailed in BMA Bulletin B128 as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

9. On-board recreational facilities (Regulation 3.1)

Appropriate recreational facilities, amenities and services shall be provided to all seafarers
onboard in accordance with in BMA Bulletin B128 as amended or any bulletin subsequently
replacing it. These spaces shall be inspected weekly and recorded in the official logbook.

The circumstances in which variations and deviations from the standards may be made are
detailed in BMA Bulletin B128 as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

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10. Food and catering (Regulation 3.2)

With reference to in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing
it:
(a) Ships shall carry on board and serve food and drinking water of appropriate quality,
nutritional value and quantity that adequately covers the requirements of the ship and takes
into account differing cultural and religious backgrounds.
(b) Seafarers shall be provided with food free of charge during their period of engagement.
(c) Ships shall meet at least the standards set out in this bulletin.

Seafarers who are engaged as ships’ cooks shall be trained and qualified in accordance with
Bulletin 115 issued by the Director, or any Bulletin replacing it.

11. Health and safety and accident prevention (Regulation 4.3)

The shipowner shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of
seafarers through the implementation of appropriate systems, procedures and policies.

It shall be the duty of every shipowner to prepare and, as often as may be appropriate, revise a
written statement of his general policy with respect to the health and safety aboard ship and the
arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out that policy, and to bring the statement
and any revision of it to the notice of seafarers aboard a Bahamian ship.

In meeting his obligations under this section the shipowner shall comply fully with the ILO
Code of Practice entitled Accident prevention on board ship at sea and in port, 1996, as
amended or other recognised code of practice (see in BMA Bulletin B129 as amended or any
bulletin subsequently replacing it). Shipowners shall take proper account of the ILO Code of
practice entitled Ambient factors in the workplace, 2001 as amended, when considering the
exposure to hazards in the working environment..

No shipowner shall levy or permit to be levied on any seafarer any charge in respect of
anything done in pursuance of paragraphs in this section.

12. On-board medical care (Regulation 4.1)

Seafarers shall be adequately covered by occupational health protection and medical care,
including essential dental care, relevant to their duties in accordance with Standard A4.1.1
(a), (b) and (c) (see Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it).
Seafarers shall have the right to visit a qualified medical doctor or dentist without delay in
ports of call, where practicable.

Shipowners shall undertake measures of a preventive character such as health promotion and
health education programmes.

Ships’ masters and relevant onshore and on-board medical personnel shall use The Bahamas
medical report form (See in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any bulletin subsequently
replacing it).

Medical stores, training and equipment requirements are detailed in BMA Bulletin BXXX as
amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

13. On-board complaint procedures (Regulation 5.1.5)

Shipowners shall ensure that they have on-board procedures for complaints by seafarers
relating to any matter which is an alleged breach of The Bahamas requirements. The on-

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board complaint procedure shall follow the format as specified in BMA Bulletin B130 as
amended or any bulletin subsequently replacing it.

The shipowner and master shall ensure that victimisation does not occur.

All seafarers shall be provided with a copy of the on-board complaint procedures applicable on
the ship.

14. Payment of wages (Regulation 2.2)

Payments to seafarers shall be made at no greater than monthly intervals and in accordance
with their collective agreement, as detailed in BMA Bulletin BXXX as amended or any
bulletin subsequently replacing it.

Name: .................................................................
Title: ...................................................................
Signature: ...........................................................
Place: ..................................................................
Date: ...................................................................
(Seal or stamp of the authority,
as appropriate)

Substantial equivalencies
(Note: Strike out the statement which is not applicable)

No equivalency has been granted.

or
The following substantial equivalencies, as provided under Article VI, para-
graphs 3 and 4, of the Convention, except where stated above, are noted (insert de-
scription if applicable):

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Substantial equivalencies:

Name: .................................................................
Title: ...................................................................
Signature: ...........................................................
Place: ..................................................................
Date: ...................................................................
(Seal or stamp of the authority,
as appropriate)

Exemptions
(Note: Strike out the statement which is not applicable)

No exemption has been granted.

or
The following exemptions granted by the competent authority as provided in
Title 3 of the Convention are noted:

Exemptions:

Name: .................................................................
Title: ...................................................................
Signature: ...........................................................
Place: ..................................................................
Date: ...................................................................
(Seal or stamp of the authority,
as appropriate)

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