A SHIP should always have sufficient number of seafarers on board to ensure the safety and security of the ship and its personnel under all operating conditions in accordance with a manning document issued by the Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF) and comply with the standards provided for in the Maritime STCW Convention Regulations 2014.
This is one of the requirements laid out in the Maritime (Labour Convention) Regulation 2017 which Fiji will soon adopt.
The regulation, now into its third draft, stated that a ship should be manned in accordance with the safe manning document issued under the Maritime Transport Act 2014.
Ships to which the requirements of the regulations do not apply shall be manned by seafarers as determined by MSAF.
It further stated that a shipowner who contravenes the provisions of this regulation commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5000.
The master or shipowner shall supply to the seafarer a signed original of the seafarers employment agreement under which the seafarer is employed.
The draft convention stated if a seafarer’s employment agreement is not in English, a copy of the standard form of the seafarer’s employment agreement shall be available in English on board the ship.
