The European Commission has hinted at the possibility of taking measures, including possible infringement proceedings, against Member States that have failed to ratify international maritime conventions, such as the 2007 Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention  and the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) on seafarer living and working conditions.

Regarding the latter, the Commission specifies that only 14 member states – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden – have so far ratified the convention. Although not indicated in the official press release of the Commission, Belgium has also ratified the MLC, bringing the total of Member State ratifications to 15. To ensure this major convention is properly enforced, EU rules have just been adopted for compliance with and enforcement of the convention, a fact that makes the ratification of the MLC by the remaining Member States a matter of urgency.

Moreover, the Commission draws attention to the fact that Portugal and the EU land-locked flag states of Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia have failed to implement EU rules on flag state requirements according to which a Member State’s maritime administration should undergo a peer review and introduce certified quality management systems.

Bulgaria and Slovakia are also in the crosshairs of the Commission for failing to get off the Paris Memorandum flag state grey list for ship detentions and deficiencies.

The official press release can be found here.