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Medical Examination (Seafarers) Convention, 1946 (No. 73) - Türkiye (RATIFICATION: 2005)

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Article 3 of the Convention. Medical examinations of seafarers. The Committee notes the Seafarers’ Health Directive of 18 March 2005 which regulates the issuance of seafarers’ medical fitness certificates by coastal health inspectorate doctors every two years, in application of section 61 of the Seafarers’ Regulations of 2002. The Committee also notes that, under section 32 of the Seafarers’ Health Directive, medical fitness certificates obtained abroad may be approved if their content and format are found to be in compliance with the national legislation. Recalling the general observation of 1999, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional information in its next report concerning the manner in which the competent authority ensures effective supervision of both the quality and the reality of the medical examination for non-resident foreign seafarers, in particular when the examination is carried out in the seafarer’s country of residence or domicile.

Article 5(3). Medical certificate expired in the course of a voyage. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in case the medical certificate expires in the course of a voyage, the seafarer is entitled to request its renewal within a period not exceeding six months. The Committee requests the Government to specify the legal text providing for such possibility. Moreover, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to Standard A1.2(9) of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), which provides that if the period of validity of a certificate expires in the course of a voyage, the certificate continues in force until the next port of call where the seafarer can obtain a medical certificate from a qualified medical practitioner, provided that the period does not exceed three months.

Article 6(1). Exemption possibility in urgent cases. The Committee requests the Government to clarify whether the national legislation permits, in exceptional circumstances and only for a single voyage, the employment of a seafarer without a medical certificate as provided for in this Article of the Convention. The Committee recalls, in this connection, that Standard A1.2(8) of the MLC, 2006, also provides for a similar exemption in urgent cases and until the next port of call, provided that the period of such exemption does not exceed three months and the seafarer concerned is in possession of an expired medical certificate of recent date.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information concerning the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, the number of medical certificates issued during the reporting period, and extracts from reports of the inspection services showing the number and nature of any infringements.

Moreover, the Committee recalls that the MLC, 2006, which revises Convention No. 73 together with 36 other international maritime labour Conventions, contains, in Regulation 1.2, Standard A1.2 and Guideline B1.2, up-to-date and detailed requirements on seafarers’ medical certificates. The MLC, 2006, introduces only a few new provisions with respect to medical examinations, such as, for instance, the recognition of medical certificates issued in accordance with the requirements of the STCW Convention, and the requirement for medical certificates for seafarers working on ships engaged on international voyages to be drafted in English. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any progress made in the process of ratification and effective implementation of the MLC, 2006.

Finally, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the new Guidelines on the medical examinations of seafarers adopted by the Joint ILO–IMO Meeting on Medical Fitness Examination of Seafarers and Ships’ Medicine Chests, which took place in Geneva in September 2011. These Guidelines apply to seafarers in accordance with the requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, (MLC, 2006), and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended (STCW Convention). They are intended to provide maritime administrations with an internationally recognized set of criteria for use by competent authorities, and contain in appendices, among others, a suggested format for recording medical examinations of seafarers and a model medical certificate for service at sea.