S.I. No. 372/2025 - Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Seafarer Employment Agreement and Wages) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 1st August, 2025.

I, SEÁN CANNEY, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 87 of the Merchant Shipping Act 2010 (No. 14 of 2010) (as adapted by the Transport, Tourism and Sport (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020 ( S.I. No. 351 of 2020 )) and the Transport (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2025 ( S.I. No. 144 of 2025 ), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Seafarer Employment Agreement and Wages) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.

2. The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Seafarer Employment Agreement and Wages) Regulations 2014 ( S.I. No. 373 of 2014 ) are amended:

(a) in Regulation 2—

(i) by inserting after the definition of “agreement” the following definition:

“‘armed robbery against ships’ means any illegal act of violence or detention or any act of depredation, or threat thereof, other than an act of piracy, committed for private ends and directed against a ship or against persons or property on board such a ship, within Ireland’s territorial sea, or any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described above;”,

(ii) by substituting for the definition of “competent authority” the following definition:

“‘competent authority’ means that part of the Department of Transport which is known as the Marine Survey Office;”,

(iii) by deleting the definitions of “Convention” and “Minister”, and

(iv) by inserting after the definition of “Marine Notice” the following definition:

“‘piracy’ has the same meaning as in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982;”,

(b) in Regulation 4—

(i) by deleting “and” at the end of paragraph (e),

(ii) by substituting “available in English, and” for “available in English.” at the end of paragraph (f), and

(iii) by inserting after paragraph (f) the following:

“(g) a seafarer’s employment agreement entered into under paragraph (a) shall continue to have effect while a seafarer is held captive on or off a ship as a result of acts of piracy or armed robbery against a ship, regardless of whether the date fixed for its expiry has passed or either party has given notice to suspend or terminate it.”,

and

(c) in Regulation 10—

(i) by substituting “seafarer, and” for “seafarer.” at the end of subparagraph (c)(ii),

(ii) by inserting after subparagraph (c)(ii) the following paragraph:

“(d) where a seafarer is held captive on or off a ship as a result of acts of piracy or armed robbery against ships, wages and other entitlements under the seafarer’s employment agreement entered into under Regulation 4(a), including the remittance of any allotments provided for under subparagraph (c)(ii), shall continue to be paid during the entire period of captivity, until the seafarer is released and duly repatriated, or, where the seafarer dies in captivity, until the date of death.”.

GIVEN under my hand,

29 July 2025

SEÁN CANNEY,

Minister of State at the Department of Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide for the 2018 amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006. In particular, they make it clear that a seafarer’s work agreement continues in force where the seafarer has been taken captive during acts of piracy or armed robbery. The Regulations further provide that the seafarers’ wages will continue to be paid in such circumstances.