Duty on shipowner in respect of recruitment and placement servicesU.K.
8.—(1) A shipowner must not use a recruitment and placement service to recruit a person as a seafarer to work on board a ship unless it is a service falling within paragraph (2).
(2) A recruitment and placement service falls within this paragraph if it—
(a)is based—
(i)in the United Kingdom;
(ii)in a country which has ratified the MLC; or
(iii)in a country to which another country's ratification of the MLC has been extended; or
(b)is based in another country and conforms to the requirements relating to recruitment and placement services referred to in paragraph 5 of Standard A1.4 of the MLC, whether or not those requirements are obligations under the law of the country in which it is based.
(3) A breach of paragraph (1) is an offence by the shipowner.
(4) In this regulation, “recruitment and placement service” means any person or organisation which is engaged in recruiting seafarers on behalf of shipowners or placing seafarers with shipowners.