Exploitation at Sea: Examining the Structural Failings of an International Legal Regime

The sea has long been implicated in severe exploitation and human rights abuse. It was the site for the facilitation of slavery and the slave trade, while its exceptional nature was used as a justification for the continuation of systemic forms of labour exploitation such as impressment, crimping, and the criminalisation of desertion. At the turn of the twentieth century seafaring labour became the subject of specific regulation under the newly established International Labour Organization (‘ILO’). Since its inception sixty-eight conventions and recommendations related to the rights and labour conditions of seafarers have been adopted under the auspices of the ILO, far exceeding the international regulations adopted for any other industry. Yet exploitation against seafarers persists. The abandonment of seafarers within ports is a frequent occurrence, with seafarers being left without food, water, medicine, fuel, or the means to return to their families, sometimes for years at a time. Exploitation is perpetrated by labour market intermediaries and manning agents who engage in deceptive recruitment practices, charge illegal fees for employment within the industry, and increase the risk of debt bondage. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated eight hundred thousand seafarers were trapped on board their vessels at the conclusion of their contracts, with many being denied the right to repatriation, access to emergency medical treatment, or being forced to continuing working without payment. Given this continued exploitation despite extensive and specific governance by a dedicated international regulatory regime, this thesis examines the structural failures within this international legal framework that contribute to, or facilitate, the exploitation of seafarers. It examines the development of the law over the course of the last century, paying particular attention to the ten maritime sessions of the International Labour Conference where these conventions and recommendations were adopted. It argues that the separation of seafaring as a subject for specific regulation within the ILO has allowed the rights of seafarers to be expressly balanced against the economic interests of shipowners and the importance of efficient global trade. It demonstrates how rights to equality of treatment and non-discrimination have been refused by States in order to construct a regulatory regime in which a seafarer’s state of nationality, and not the flag state in which they are employed, is determinative for many of the conditions of their labour. This has included through express exclusions of non-resident seafarers from the protections of certain core international human rights treaties, ultimately disadvantaging seafarers from the Global South. This has been underpinned by an express refusal by States to enshrine a right of access to judicial remedies within international law, adding to the barriers imposed upon seafarers in accessing courts and non-judicial remedies in order to enforce their rights and seek redress for exploitation.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Peterson, Darren

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Sanger, Andrew
• Benvenisti, Eyal

• Human rights
• Law of the sea
• Seafarers

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/6571b3f5-9ef8-4ad3-887e-e724e9aa655d/download
• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.110912

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/371883