The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026

Made: 16th March 2026

Laid before Parliament: 19th March 2026

Coming into force: 10th April 2026

The Secretary of State, with the consent of the Treasury, makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 85(1), (3)(a) and (f), and (5) and (7), 86(1)(a) to (d) and 302(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995[^f00001] and sections 14(1) and 20(1)(b) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023^f00002.

The Secretary of State has consulted such persons in the United Kingdom as the Secretary of State considers will be affected by the exercise of powers in this instrument in accordance with section 86(4) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

The Secretary of State is a relevant national authority for the purposes of section 14(1) of the 2023 Act[^f00003].

The requirements of paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 5 to the 2023 Act (relating to the appropriate Parliamentary procedure for these Regulations) have been satisfied.

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026 and come into force on the 22nd day after the day on which they are laid.

• (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Amendment of the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Minimum Requirements for Seafarers etc.) Regulations 2014

2

• (1) The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Minimum Requirements for Seafarers etc.) Regulations 2014[^f00004] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation), in the definition of “United Kingdom ship”—

• (a) insert “or” at the end of sub-paragraph (a);

• (b) omit sub-paragraph (b).

• (3) In regulation 29 (crew accommodation requirements)—

• (a) after paragraph (1) insert—

(1A) In this regulation, “social connectivity” means connectivity to internet services for social communication and social engagement purposes.

• (b) after paragraph (2) insert—

(2A) Subject to paragraph (2B) and regulation 32 (approvals to allow substantial equivalences), social connectivity facilities must be provided in all areas of the crew accommodation of a ship except storerooms. (2B) The requirement in paragraph (2A) does not apply— (a) in relation to a seafarer— (i) who does not live and work on board the ship, or (ii) who is not on board the ship; (b) in relation to a ship— (i) which starts and finishes a voyage on the same day, or (ii) while it is operating within an area, or is transiting waters in an area, where availability of social connectivity services is absent, or ineffective, due to reasons beyond the control of the ship owner.

• (c) in paragraph (3), after “(2)” insert “or (2A)”.

• (4) In regulation 32(1) (approvals to allow substantial equivalences), after “set out in” insert “regulation 29(2A) and”.

• (5) In regulation 34 (provision of food and drinking water)—

• (a) in paragraph (1)(a), for “value and variety” substitute “value, variety and balance,”;

• (b) in paragraph (2), for “all seafarers while they are on board” substitute “seafarers during the period of their engagement”.

Amendments and revocations in relation to government ships

3

The statutory instruments set out under column 1 of the table in Schedule 1 are amended or revoked to the extent specified under column 2 of that table.

Amendment of the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018

4

The Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018[^f00005] are amended to the extent specified in Schedule 2.

Schedule 1 — Amendments or revocations

The statutory instruments set out under column 1 of the table below are amended or revoked to the extent specified under column 2 of that table.

Schedule 2 — Amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018

In the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018, Schedule 1 (fees under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995), Part 1 (surveys, inspections and applications for exemption), the table under paragraph 5 (fees for inspections, etc.) is amended in relation to the item referred to under column 1 of the table below to the extent specified under the corresponding entry under column 2 of that table.

Signed

We consent to the making of these Regulations

Stephen Morgan — Gen Kitchen — Two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury — 12th March 2026

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

Keir Mather — Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State — Department for Transport — 16th March 2026

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Explanatory Note

These Regulations implement certain amendments of 6th June 2022 made to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 by making amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Minimum Requirements for Seafarers etc.) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1613) (“the 2014 Regulations”).

Regulation 2 amends the 2014 Regulations to—

• disapply the application of those Regulations to government ships;

• require that, with certain exceptions, social connectivity (internet) facilities are provided in all areas of crew accommodation except ship storerooms;

• introduce a requirement that food provided to seafarers is balanced and to clarify that the duty to provide food and drinking water for seafarers only applies during the period of their engagement.

These Regulations also amend various other merchant shipping regulations, using powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, to disapply the application of those regulations to government ships. These amendments are made by regulation 3 and Schedule 1.

Regulation 4 and Schedule 2 amend the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1104) to insert consequential amendments that are required in respect of relevant instruments included in that Schedule.

The Maritime Labour Convention may be downloaded from the website of the International Labour Organization at https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards/maritime-labour-convention-2006. Copies of the MLC may be obtained as a priced publication from www.tsoshop.co.uk, or by post from TSO Customer Services, 18 Central Avenue, St. Andrew’s Business Park, Norwich NR7 0HR, telephone number: +44 (0) 333 202 5070.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen.

An Explanatory Memorandum and a de minimis assessment have been prepared and are published alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1995 c. 21. Sections 85 and 86 were amended by the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997 (c. 28), section 8. There are other amendments to section 85 not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00002]: 2023 c. 28.

[^f00003]: The term “relevant national authority” is defined in section 21(1) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.

[^f00004]: S.I. 2014/1613, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00005]: S.I. 2018/1104; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1996/2821, 1998/2411, 1999/1704, 2205, 2001/54, 2002/2125, 2135, 2004/1266, 2006/89, 2014/1614, 1616, 2015/21, 1692, 2016/1026, 2018/242, 667, 2025/1103.

[^f00006]: S.I. 1995/1802, amended by S.I. 2018/1202; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

[^f00007]: S.I. 1997/529, amended by S.I. 1999/1704; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

[^f00008]: S.I. 1997/2367, amended by S.I. 2004/2110, 2011/2616, 2024/636.

[^f00009]: S.I. 1997/2962, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00010]: S.I. 1998/2411, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00011]: S.I. 1998/2857, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00012]: S.I. 1999/2205.

[^f00013]: S.I. 2001/3444, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00014]: S.I. 2006/2183, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00015]: S.I. 2006/2184, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00016]: S.I. 2007/3075, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00017]: S.I. 2007/3077, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00018]: S.I. 2007/3100, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00019]: S.I. 2010/323, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00020]: S.I. 2010/330, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00021]: S.I. 2010/332, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00022]: S.I. 2010/737, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00023]: S.I. 2010/1075, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00024]: S.I. 2010/2984, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00025]: S.I. 2010/2987, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00026]: S.I. 2013/1785, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00027]: S.I. 2014/1615, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00028]: S.I. 2016/1026.

[^f00029]: S.I. 2018/58, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.