The third meeting of the Joint Tripartite Working Group (JTWG) of the International Labour Organization (ILO)/International Maritime Organization (IMO) was held from November 26 to 28, 2024 at the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, through a combination of online and offline methods. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Antonios Doumanis (Greek), and attended by Mr. Jan de Boer from the IMO Legal Affairs Department and Mr. Frank Hagemann from the ILO Industry Policy Division, who delivered speeches. The Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport organized a delegation, and representatives from Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration, Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration, Dalian Maritime University, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jiangsu Maritime Vocational and Technical College and other units attended the conference. The delegation successfully completed their participation tasks.

Group photo of members of the Chinese delegation

  At the meeting, the Chinese delegation, based on past practical experience in handling cases and fully considering the interests of our industry, added relevant content such as "information notification to the nationality country of seafarers" and ensuring that seafarers can maintain communication with "seafarer recruitment and placement service agencies" in the "Port State and Coastal State Guidelines" section of the draft "Guidelines for Fair Treatment of Seafarers Detained for Suspected Crimes". The opinions were widely agreed upon by government representatives attending the meeting, submitted to the plenary session and approved, reflecting China's responsibility and commitment as a major seafarer country.

  The draft of the "Guidelines for Fair Treatment of Seafarers Detained for Suspected Crimes" improved through this meeting will be submitted by JTWG to the 112th session of the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization (LEG) for further review.

  The Joint Tripartite Working Group of the International Labour Organization/International Maritime Organization was established with the approval of the 125th Council of IMO and the 343rd Council of ILO to identify and address seafarer related issues and human factors. The Joint Tripartite Working Group has held meetings in December 2022 and February 2024 respectively to address the issues of seafarers being abandoned and seafarers bullying and harassment (including sexual assault and harassment).