Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report indicating that a total number of 5,110 seamen’s cards had been issued in the period June 2005 to January 2010. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply up-to-date information on the practical application of the Convention, including for instance, statistical information on the number of seafarers’ identity documents issued during the reporting period, extracts from reports of the services entrusted with the enforcement of the relevant laws and regulations and any difficulties encountered in the application of the Convention.

The Committee also takes this opportunity to recall that the Convention has been revised by the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185), which was adopted by the ILO to enhance port and border security, while at the same time facilitating the seafarers’ right to shore leave, by developing a more secure and globally uniform seafarers’ identity document. In fact, Convention No. 185 complements actions taken within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the adoption of the International Ship and Port-facility Security Code (ISPS), sets out basic parameters regarding the content and form of the documents, and provides technical guidance in the annexes in order to ensure that Members may easily adapt their systems while taking national circumstances into account. In this respect, the Committee wishes to refer to the summary of consensus achieved at the consultative meeting on Convention No. 185, held in Geneva on
23–24 September 2010, according to which “further ratifications and recognition of the seafarers’ identity document (SID) to facilitate shore leave are urgently needed, especially among port States” (see CSID/C.185/2010/4, p. 17). The Committee therefore invites the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 185 in the near future and to keep the Office informed of any decisions taken in this respect.