Guideline B2.5 – Repatriation
Guideline B2.5.1 – Entitlement
1. Seafarers should be entitled to repatriation:
(a) in the case covered by Standard A2.5, paragraph 1(a), upon the expiry of the
period of notice given in accordance with the provisions of the seafarers’ employment
agreement;
(b) in the cases covered by Standard A2.5, paragraph 1(b) and (c):
(i) in the event of illness or injury or other medical condition which requires
their repatriation when found medically fit to travel;
(ii) in the event of shipwreck;
(iii) in the event of the shipowner not being able to continue to fulfil their legal
or contractual obligations as an employer of the seafarers by reason of insolvency,
sale of ship, change of ship’s registration or any other similar
reason;
(iv) in the event of a ship being bound for a war zone, as defined by national
laws or regulations or seafarers’ employment agreements, to which the seafarer
does not consent to go; and
(v) in the event of termination or interruption of employment in accordance
with an industrial award or collective agreement, or termination of employment
for any other similar reason.
2. In determining the maximum duration of service periods on board following
which a seafarer is entitled to repatriation, in accordance with this Code, account
should be taken of factors affecting the seafarers’ working environment. Each Member
should seek, wherever possible, to reduce these periods in the light of technological
changes and developments and might be guided by any recommendations made on the
matter by the Joint Maritime Commission.
3. The costs to be borne by the shipowner for repatriation under Standard A2.5
should include at least the following:
(a) passage to the destination selected for repatriation in accordance with paragraph
6 of this Guideline;
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Conditions of employment
(b) accommodation and food from the moment the seafarers leave the ship until they
reach the repatriation destination;
(c) pay and allowances from the moment the seafarers leave the ship until they reach
the repatriation destination, if provided for by national laws or regulations or collective
agreements;
(d) transportation of 30 kg of the seafarers’ personal luggage to the repatriation
destination; and
(e) medical treatment when necessary until the seafarers are medically fit to travel
to the repatriation destination.
4. Time spent awaiting repatriation and repatriation travel time should not be
deducted from paid leave accrued to the seafarers.
5. Shipowners should be required to continue to cover the costs of repatriation
until the seafarers concerned are landed at a destination prescribed pursuant to this
Code or are provided with suitable employment on board a ship proceeding to one of
those destinations.
6. Each Member should require that shipowners take responsibility for repatriation
arrangements by appropriate and expeditious means. The normal mode of transport
should be by air. The Member should prescribe the destinations to which seafarers
may be repatriated. The destinations should include the countries with which seafarers
may be deemed to have a substantial connection including:
(a) the place at which the seafarer agreed to enter into the engagement;
(b) the place stipulated by collective agreement;
(c) the seafarer’s country of residence; or
(d) such other place as may be mutually agreed at the time of engagement.
7. Seafarers should have the right to choose from among the prescribed destinations
the place to which they are to be repatriated.
8. The entitlement to repatriation may lapse if the seafarers concerned do not
claim it within a reasonable period of time to be defined by national laws or regulations
or collective agreements.