Nautilus coronavirus resources

Refusal to join a ship would be considered misconduct or gross misconduct under many SEAs even with such a looming public health concern.  Check your SEA and any applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), to see if there are any relevant clauses.

Employers demanding travel to a hotspot could be in contravention of national government travel advice, risk corporate travel insurance cover and fall foul of employee health and safety responsibilities under the MLC. Ensure your employer is aware of your concerns.

It may be that, in extreme cases, refusing to join a ship in a hotspot would be reasonable on health and safety grounds. However, a bad employer may still wish to treat this as a disciplinary issue.

Affected members should contact Nautilus immediately, which can then put their concerns to their employer.

Under the MLC ship owners have a duty to protect the health and safety of seafarers.

However, it may be harder to justify refusing to join a ship that will visit a hot spot as part of its rotation, as the risk of contracting the virus could be considered minimal if there is no contact with the local population.

Previous guidance issued by the UK Government determined the need for people to self-isolate depending on whether they were exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus and whether they had recently visited an affected country.

This guidance has since been replaced with mandatory measures that were introduced by the government on 23 March. These measures include:

1. Requiring people to stay at home, except for very limited purposes
2. Closing non-essential shops and community spaces
3. Stopping all gatherings of more than two people in public
These measures are compulsory and can be enforced by the police who have the power to issue fines and disperse public gatherings. Further information can be found here.

When returning to the UK, check travel advice from your country of residence, which is subject to change.

The UK government is currently advising British nationals against all non-essential international travel.

This exceptional advice has been issued because the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has led to unprecedented international border closures and other restrictions.

International and domestic freight transport (including by air, ship, road and rail, including roll-on/roll-off transports) is classified by UK government as an essential activity in the context of its travel advice. The advice against non-essential travel is not intended to apply to international and domestic freight transport. Seafarers have been included in the government definition of 'key worker', which means they are exempt from certain restrictions that have been put in place.

Check the latest travel advice and sign up for email alerts for all countries where you are travelling.

If an employer orders you to self-isolate following a visit to a Covid-19 hotspot, you should still be paid in accordance with your SEA.

An employer should not order you to take unpaid contractual or statutory leave for which you would normally be paid. Any contravention of this can be challenged with the assistance of Nautilus.

The government has announced a support package for those who have suffered financial detriment because of Covid-19. Affected members should contact their industrial official for advice.

Under the MLC you have a right to be repatriated once your tour of duty is finished.

An employer can only refuse that if, under your SEA, there is a clause that permits it to extend the tour of duty.

However, what if you would rather not get off at a hotspot?

Although the MLC states that seafarers cannot forego annual leave and that they have the right to be repatriated if they have been onboard for 12 months (effectively 11 months when annual leave is subtracted), the ILO has indicated that flag states have the flexibility to make exceptions to the prohibition against forgoing annual leave for imperative reasons of public health, such as the need to contain coronavirus.

However, this should only be used with appropriate safeguards to protect seafarers, such as obtaining their consent and ensuring that they do not lose their accrued annual leave or right to repatriation. Check with your flag state to see if ship owners can extend this flexibility to you without being in danger of breaching their MLC obligations.

Your employer will be liable to pay you for any such extension of your tour of duty.

The UK government has stated that it is committed to upholding its obligations under the international conventions regarding the transit and transfer of seafarers and their right to access shore leave.

You have a duty to protect yourself while at sea and a duty to protect others who may be affected by your activities.

You should follow the general advice published by the World Health Organization (WHO), The International Maritime Health Association (IMHA) and The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). There may also be a company policy (check their website) and perhaps flag state advice

You should also seek advice from the onboard medical officer and inform your line manager/master.

MLC states that when you are in port you have a right to visit a medical doctor 'where practicable'. In an MLC-ratifying state you also have the right to shore leave and to access shore-based welfare facilities.

Flag states do have the right to refuse shore leave if they have reason to believe that a vessel may be carrying an infectious disease and, any local restrictions in force limiting non-essential travel would apply equally to seafarers. In these instances it would not be unreasonable to restrict shore leave.

If you have any concern regarding these matters, then contact Nautilus for advice.

The ship owner is also obliged to provide you with free onboard medical care.

The ship owner has a duty to pay for your medical care and treatment, therapeutic appliances, and board and lodging until you have recovered. You will also be entitled to full pay until you are repatriated. After repatriation you will be entitled to pay (in whole or in part – check flag state law) until at least 16 weeks from the date you became sick.

If the ship owner refuses unreasonably to allow for medical checks or medical help, that would be a serious breach of flag state MLC laws, rendering the ship owner liable to prosecution.

While in a foreign port ships will also be governed by the port state’s MLC laws. So an MLC onshore complaint may also be lodged with the local maritime authority.

Action from your union can help enforce these mechanisms.

Firstly, contact Nautilus, as such cases are likely to be very fact-sensitive, and require industrial and legal intervention. Nautilus will try to get you back to work, or at least ensure that you are paid if it is the ship owner that is preventing your return.

Some SEAs allow the ship owner to suspend work for 'force majeure' or unforeseen circumstances without pay, depending on which national laws the SEA is governed by.

However, if your SEA is subject to UK law, and there is no such clause, then you should be entitled to continued payment.

The MCA has implemented temporary measures to ensure that seafarers certificates continue to remain valid for sea service.

Any seafarer who has completed all the requirements for a UK CoC can email their application to the MCA in order to be issued with a temporary CoC valid for six months.

Any seafarer who has been unable to complete any aspect of STCW safety training due to disruption caused by Covid-19 can apply to the MCA for an exemption. The process to be followed will depend on individual circumstances.

As recognised key workers, UK based seafarers are eligible to travel to and from a vessel. However, you should ensure that you carry at all times your professional documentation, ie seafarers' identity document, Certificate of Competency, discharge book or discharge papers.

Nautilus is aware that some companies are providing letters to their employees identifying that the bearer is a seafarer required to join a vessel. In exceptional circumstances Nautilus can also assist by providing a member with a letter confirming their status as a key worker.

The UK job retention scheme that provides support to workers temporarily laid off (furloughed workers) applies to UK business and employees on PAYE. (click here for the government’s advice).

Many of our UK resident members work on offshore contracts and there remain differences of opinion about whether the furloughed workers scheme applies in those circumstances.

Also, many of our members work on voyage contracts with non-UK based employers who do not operate PAYE. We are actively seeking clarification that the scheme for self-employed workers and freelancers will assist those members without a UK employer operating PAYE.

We anticipate that these and other questions will be answered as more details around the governments coronavirus support measures becomes available.

UK/EU resident members who are in this position should seek independent financial advice as it is possible that having made claims in the past for Seafarers Earnings Deduction (SED) HMRC will have your tax records and this may assist HMRC in identifying seafarers who may be eligible for the self-employed scheme both in terms of your past earnings and National Insurance contributions. There are several specialised seafarer’s tax advisory services available but one we have worked with in the past is Seatax.

Many of our members are not able to make Class 1 contributions and opt instead for Class 2 (self-employed). Either way they should be able to claim benefits if they are unemployed or on reduced income.

Members who have not maintained their national insurance contributions may face difficulties accessing some of the available benefits. There is advice on national insurance for seafarers available here.

Nautilus supports the Seafarers Assistance and Information Line (SAIL) and members can seek advice from them on their benefit entitlements. Any employment related queries should be referred to the Nautilus Organising department or your Industrial Organiser.

Further information on the support available to members is also available on the Nautius Coronavirus hub.

Members have reported renewed interest particularly in the Oil and Gas sector for UK seafarers.

Nautilus has made representations to the government, the department for transport and the shipping industry calling for them to put in place mechanisms to ensure that shortages of seafarers caused by labour supply countries restricting travel can be met by UK seafarers. This has included ensuring that UK seafarers are designated as key workers and that they are able to revalidate their Certificates of Competency despite the disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

In the meantime, we will endeavour to coordinate and circulate information on companies offering employment and seek to match these to available vacancies. Members should also check the Nautilus Jobs Board.