Singapore legislation
Section 23
Section 23
Repatriation of seafarers
(1)
Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a person who employs a seafarer on a ship must not require the seafarer to work for a period of 12 months or longer before being entitled to repatriation.
(2)
A shipowner must repatriate a seafarer employed on a ship in the following circumstances:
where the seafarer’s employment agreement of the seafarer concerned has expired;
where the seafarer’s employment agreement has been terminated by the seafarer for justified reasons or by the shipowner;
where the seafarer is no longer able to carry out his or her duties under his or her seafarer’s employment agreement or cannot be expected to carry them out, in the following circumstances:
the seafarer has an illness or injury or other medical condition which requires his or her repatriation when found medically fit to travel;
the seafarer is taken to any country in the event of shipwreck;
the shipowner is not able to continue to fulfil the shipowner’s legal or contractual obligations as an employer of the seafarer by reason of insolvency, sale of ship, change of ship’s registration or any other similar reason;
the ship is bound for a war zone, as defined by written law or the seafarer’s employment agreement, to which the seafarer does not consent to go;
the seafarer’s employment is terminated or interrupted in accordance with an industrial award or collective agreement;
the seafarer is left behind in any country for any reason;
where, in violation of the requirements of this Act or the terms of the seafarer’s employment agreement —
the seafarer is left by the shipowner without the necessary maintenance and support (including adequate food, accommodation, drinking water supplies, essential fuel for survival on board the ship and necessary medical care); or
where the seafarer’s ties with the shipowner have been unilaterally severed by the shipowner including where the shipowner has failed to pay the seafarer’s contractual wages for a period of at least 2 months;
where the seafarer is released from captivity after being held captive on or off a ship as a result of an act of piracy or armed robbery against the ship.
(3)
A shipowner must repatriate a young seafarer who has served without leave for 6 months, or any shorter period of time as determined under his or her seafarer’s employment agreement or a collective agreement, on board a ship that has not returned to the seafarer’s country of residence during that time and will not return to that country of residence in the next 3 months.
(4)
A young seafarer who is found to be unsuited to life at sea, after having served on a ship for at least 4 months during his or her first foreign‑going voyage, must be given the opportunity to be repatriated at no expense to the seafarer and in accordance with this section from the first suitable port of call in which there are consular services of Singapore or of the state of his or her nationality or residence.
(5)
A shipowner must notify the authority, of the state which issued the papers enabling the young seafarer concerned to take up seagoing employment, of the repatriation referred to in subsection (4) and the reasons for the repatriation.
(6)
A seafarer is entitled to be repatriated to any of the following places with which he or she has a substantial connection:
the place at which the seafarer agreed to enter into the engagement;
the place stipulated by an applicable collective agreement;
the seafarer’s country of residence;
such other place as may be mutually agreed at the time of engagement;
such other place as may be determined by the Director as appropriate.
(7)
A seafarer has a right to choose from among the destinations referred to in subsection (6), the place to which he or she is to be repatriated.
(8)
A seafarer is entitled to be repatriated by appropriate and expeditious means.
(9)
A shipowner must bear the costs of repatriating a seafarer in the shipowner’s employment until the seafarer is landed at a destination in accordance with subsection (6), including expenses for any items that may be prescribed.
(10)
A person must not require any seafarer to make an advance payment towards the costs of repatriation and is not entitled to recover, or to make any deduction for, the costs of repatriation from the seafarer’s wages or other entitlements except where the seafarer has been found, after due inquiry by the Director, to have been in serious default of his or her employment obligations.
(11)
Where a seafarer referred to in subsection (2)(c)(ii) or (vi) remains in the country mentioned in that subsection after the end of a period of 3 months, the person who last employed him or her as a seafarer is not liable under this section to make provision for the seafarer’s return or for any matter arising after the end of that period, unless the person has, before the end of that period, been under an obligation imposed on the person under this section to make provision with respect to the seafarer.
(12)
Where it appears to the Director that a shipowner is unable to make, has failed to make, or fails to continue to make, provision necessary for the repatriation of a seafarer in the shipowner’s employment under this section, the Director may make such provision and recover from the shipowner any costs and expenses incurred by the Director in making that provision.
(13)
This section does not affect any right of a shipowner to recover the costs of repatriation under third‑party contractual arrangements.
(14)
A shipowner must cause a legible copy of this section and any regulations relating to the repatriation of seafarers made under this Act in English, and the working language of the ship if it is not English, to be carried on board the ship and to be made available to seafarers.