Liberia ahead on MLC certification

Ninety-four per cent of qualifying Liberian-flag ships had achieved successful Maritime Labour Convention 2006 compliance, just one week after the convention entered force. MLC 2006 certification is a multi-step process. The first step involves the issuing of a Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance (DMLC) Part 1 at the request of the owner. This is followed by the owner’s submission of DMLC Part 2 for approval. In the case of Liberia, which has opted not to delegate flag state inspection to classification societies, this means approval by the Liberian flag. Then the vessel is inspected and the certificate duly issued.