The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Minimum Requirements for Seafarers etc.) Regulations 2014

PART 2 Minimum age

Seafarer to be of minimum age

4.—(1) A person under 16 years of age must not be employed, engaged or work on board a ship.

(2) A breach of paragraph (1) is an offence by the shipowner, the master of the ship and the employer of the person under the age of 16.

Young persons on night duty

5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a seafarer under 18 years of age must not be employed, engaged or work on board a ship at night.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply where—

(a) the effective training of the seafarer, in accordance with established programmes and schedules, would be impaired by its application; or

(b) the specific nature of the duty or of a recognised training programme requires that the seafarer performs duties at night and the work to be carried out is specified in Merchant Shipping Notice 1838(M) as not being detrimental to the health and well-being of seafarers under the age of 18.

(3) In this regulation, “night” means a period—

(a) the duration of which is not less than nine consecutive hours; and

(b) which starts no later than midnight and ends no earlier than 5 a.m. (local time).

(4) A breach of paragraph (1) is an offence by the shipowner, the master of the ship and the employer of the person under the age of 18.

Part 2 requirements for non-United Kingdom ships with MLC documentation

6.—(1) A ship must not be operated in breach of the prohibitions in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Standard A1.1 (minimum age) of the MLC, subject to any exceptions made by the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly in accordance with paragraph 3 of that Standard.

(2) A breach of paragraph (1) is an offence by the shipowner, the master of the ship and the employer of a seafarer under the age prescribed in Regulation 1.1 of the MLC or, in the case of night work, the age prescribed in paragraph 2 of Standard A1.1 of the MLC.

Meaning of “employer” etc.

7.  In this Part—

“employer” means the person by whom a person under 16 years of age or, as the case may be, a seafarer under 18 years of age is employed or engaged in breach of regulation 4, 5 or 6;

“employed” means employed under a contract of employment; and

“engaged” means engaged under a contract, whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing, whereby the person or seafarer so engaged undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for the employer, or another party to the contract, whose status is not by virtue of the contract that of a client or customer of any profession or business undertaking carried out by the person or seafarer.