A top International Labour Organisation (ILO) official has urged countries in the region to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) to strengthen the 'Fourth Pillar' of international maritime law.

"This region is very important for the global maritime industry as a ship passes the Strait of Hormuz every nine minutes and the region is a big energy supplier for the entire world," Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director, International Labour Standards Department at the ILO, told Gulf News yesterday.

She wants the Riyadh Memorandum of Understanding (Riyadh MoU) on Port State Control in the Gulf Region to ratify the MLC. The Riyadh MoU is an agreement between the six GCC countries to achieve safe and efficient shipping in the maritime jurisdictions in the Gulf.

"Iran, Iraq and Yemen must also join the Riyadh MoU," said Hamoud Al Maskry, Director of Secretariat and Information Centre of Riyadh MoU.

"It is important that all countries in the region ratify the MLC so being part of the Riyadh MoU makes it easier," said Doumbia-Henry, who developed the MLC.

She pointed out that the Convention (MLC) provides rights and protection at work for the world's more than 1.2 million seafarers and updates more than 65 international labour standards related to seafarers adopted over the past 80 years.

The ILO official is optimistic that the Convention will come into force by 2013.

Source: Gulf News