New Minimum Wage for Seafarers

The world’s seafarers are set to see their monthly minimum wages rise incrementally over the course of the next three years.

The change is the result of a a resolution agreed by a subcommittee of the the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Joint Maritime Commission (JMC).

The meeting agreed to raise the ILO minimum basic wage for an able seafarer to US$658 as of January 1, 2023. The rate will be increased to US$666 as of January 1, 2024 and to US$673 as of January 1, 2025.

The subcommittee also agreed that the figure of US $673 as of March 1, 2022 should be used as the basis for recalculation purposes and for discussion at the next meeting of the subcommittee, in 2025.

The Maritime Labor Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC, 2006) provides that the basic pay or wages of an able seafarer for a calendar month of service should be no less than the amount periodically set by the JMC or another body authorized by the Governing Body of the ILO.

A Resolution concerning the ILO minimum monthly basic wage for able seafarers, and setting out the new wage figures, was adopted by the subcommittee and will be submitted to the 346th session of the ILO Governing Body later this year.

The MLC, 2006, known as the ‘seafarers’ bill of rights’, entered into force on August 20, 2013, and has been ratified by 101 ILO member States , representing 96.6% of world shipping tonnage.

The Joint Maritime Commission is the only permanent bipartite standing body of the ILO. It dates back to 1920 and is composed of shipowner and seafarer representatives from across the globe.