Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act 2014 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 4 · Conditions of Seafarers’ Employment
21. Allotment notes
Feedback & supportSubject to this section, a seafarer may, by means of an allotment note, allot directly to any person or persons nominated by the seafarer, by bank transfer or similar means, all or part of the wages to which the seafarer will become entitled in the course of employment on a ship.
seafarer
“seafarer” means any person, including the master, who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship, but does not include —(a)a pilot;(b)a port worker;(c)a person temporarily employed on the ship during the period it is in port; and(d)a person specified in an Order made by the Authority, with the approval of the Minister, declaring the categories of persons not to be regarded as seafarers;
A person to whom any part of a seafarer’s wages has been allotted by an allotment note issued in accordance with this section has the right to recover that part in the person’s own name and for that purpose has the same remedies as the seafarer has for the recovery of the seafarer’s wages.
In any proceedings brought by a person named in an allotment note as the person to whom any part of a seafarer’s wages has been allotted, it is presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the seafarer is entitled to the wages specified in the note and that the allotment has not been varied or cancelled.
Unless the shipowner and the seafarer otherwise agree —
shipowner
“shipowner”, in relation to a ship, means the owner of the ship, and includes —(a)the registered owner; or(b)in the absence of registration —(i)the person owning the ship; or(ii)any other person (such as the ship manager, agent or bareboat charterer) who has assumed responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners in accordance with the Convention, whether or not any other organisation or person fulfils certain of the duties or responsibilities on the shipowner’s behalf;
the first sum payable under an allotment note is payable not less than one month from the date on which the allotment note is issued, and subsequent sums become payable at regular intervals of not less than one month reckoned from the date when the first sum is payable; and
no sum is payable under an allotment note before the seafarer has earned any of the wages allotted by it.
A person providing services for the allotment of wages in accordance with this section may charge the seafarer a fee if —
such fee charged is reasonable; and
the exchange rate used is either —
the prevailing market rate of the bank designated by the seafarer; or
the exchange rate set out in the collective agreement for the duration of the agreement, provided that the exchange rate is not unfavourable to the seafarer.