Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act 2014 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 4 · Conditions of Seafarers’ Employment
24. Compensation to seafarers in event of wreck or loss of ship, etc.
Feedback & supportWhere a ship is wrecked or lost, a seafarer whose employment on the ship is thereby terminated before the date contemplated in the seafarer’s employment agreement under which he or she is so employed is, subject to this section, entitled to wages, at the rate payable under the agreement at the date of the wreck or loss, for every day on which he or she is unemployed in the 2 months following that date.
ship
“ship” has the meaning given by the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, but does not include —(a)any vessel which navigates exclusively in inland waters or waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (Port) Regulations apply;(b)any warship or naval auxiliary;(c)any ship engaged in fishing or in similar pursuits;(d)any ship of traditional build such as dhows and junks;(e)any ship that is intended to be operated without any seafarer on board; and(f)any ship specified in an Order made by the Authority, with the approval of the Minister, declaring the categories of ships to be excluded from the application of this Act;
Where a ship is sold or ceases to be registered in Singapore and a seafarer’s employment on the ship is thereby terminated before the date contemplated in the seafarer’s employment agreement under which he or she is so employed, then, unless otherwise provided in the agreement, the seafarer is, subject to subsection (3), entitled to wages at the rate payable under the agreement at the date on which his or her employment is terminated for every day on which he or she is unemployed in the 2 months following that date.
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 seafarer is not entitled to wages under subsection (1) or (2) for any day of unemployment, if it is shown that —
the unemployment was not due to the wreck or loss of the ship or (as the case may be) to the sale of the ship or its ceasing to be registered in Singapore; or
the seafarer was able to obtain suitable employment for that day but unreasonably refused to take it.
The master and a seafarer employed on a ship have the same lien and remedies for their wages payable under this section, as a seaman has for his or her wages.
master
“master” includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of a ship;
This section does not affect the rights a seafarer may have under any other rule of law.