What does better protection for seafarers look like in practice — and how can knowledge about their rights reach the people responsible for implementing them?
BlueRights supported the three-day Train the Trainers: Strengthening Seafarers’ Living and Working Conditions at Sea Training School in Ankara, organised by DEHUKAM in collaboration with the World Maritime University and Piri Reis University.
Bringing together academics, researchers and maritime professionals, the programme examined the legal and practical frameworks governing seafarers’ lives and work at sea. Sessions addressed the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006), abandonment, wage protection and financial security, occupational health and safety, dispute resolution, equality and the challenges created by working across different jurisdictions. Participants also considered how excessive working hours and fatigue increase safety risks, the criminalisation of seafarers following maritime accidents, and the importance of digital connectivity and psychosocial welfare.
The Train the Trainers format placed particular emphasis on turning specialist knowledge into something that can be shared and applied. Discussions and institutional visits highlighted the responsibilities of different actors across the maritime sector, the need for cooperation among administrations, trade unions and shipowners, and the importance of accessible mechanisms for protecting seafarers when living and working conditions fall below required standards.
For BlueRights, the Training School speaks directly to a central challenge in protecting human rights at sea: rights on paper matter only when the people who need them — and those responsible for protecting them — understand how they operate in practice.
