Shore Leave and Annual Leave: Seafarer Rights Under MLC 2006

Short answer: Regulation 2.4 of MLC 2006 says seafarers must be given paid annual leave, and must be granted shore leave to benefit their health and well-being, consistent with the operational requirements of their duties. The detailed minimum for annual leave sits in Standard A2.4.

Standard A2.4, paragraph 2 sets the minimum: paid annual leave is calculated on the basis of a minimum of 2.5 calendar days per month of employment. That works out to 30 calendar days for a full year of employment. Justified absences from work are not counted as annual leave, so a period of sick leave cannot be quietly booked as your vacation.

Standard A2.4, paragraph 3 adds an important protection: any agreement to give up the minimum annual leave with pay is prohibited, except in cases provided for by the competent authority (the flag state). In plain words, a clause that says 'the seafarer waives all leave entitlement' is not valid on a ship flying the flag of a country that has ratified the MLC, unless that flag's own law specifically allows an exception.

Because the MLC sets a floor, flag states, national laws and collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) can and often do give more. The flag state's Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance (DMLC Part I), which must be carried on board, should state how that flag applies the leave requirement. If you want to know the real rule on your ship, the DMLC and your seafarer employment agreement (SEA) are the two documents to read.

Short answer: at minimum, you earn 2.5 days of paid leave for every month you are employed, paid at your normal rate of remuneration. On a 6-month contract, that is at least 15 days of leave pay.

Guideline B2.4.1 explains how the ILO expects this to work. Paragraph 3 says pay during annual leave should be at the seafarer's normal level of remuneration as provided by national laws or the applicable SEA, and that for seafarers employed for periods shorter than one year, or whose employment ends early, leave should be calculated on a pro rata basis. Paragraph 1 says service off-articles counts toward the period of service, and paragraph 2 says absences for approved training, illness, injury or maternity may be counted as part of the period of service under conditions set by the competent authority or a collective agreement.

In practice, most deep-sea contracts handle leave in one of three ways. The first is a separate 'leave pay' line in the monthly wage, for example a fixed number of days' basic wage added each month. The second is leave pay settled in a lump sum when you sign off. The third, common with permanent employees on rotation, is paid time at home between tours, where you keep receiving a salary while on leave. All three can comply, as long as the total is not less than the minimum.

A simple worked example, using made-up round numbers: if your basic wage is USD 1,500 per month and your contract treats a month as 30 days, one day of basic wage is USD 50. The MLC minimum of 2.5 days per month equals USD 125 of leave pay per month of service, or USD 750 over a 6-month contract. Your CBA may calculate leave on basic wage only or on a wider figure, and it may grant more than 2.5 days. Check the wage scale attached to your SEA.

Guideline B2.4.1, paragraph 4 lists what should not be counted as annual leave: public and customary holidays recognised in the flag state, periods of incapacity for work due to illness, injury or maternity, temporary shore leave granted under an SEA, and compensatory leave of any kind. So a few hours ashore in Singapore are not 'leave' that can be deducted from your 30 days.

Short answer: it can be, but the contract must make it clear. Many seafarers, especially ratings and junior officers on fixed-term contracts, are paid a consolidated or all-in monthly figure, and the question is whether leave pay sits inside that number.

Guideline B2.2.1 defines a consolidated wage as a wage or salary which includes the basic pay and other pay-related benefits, and which may include compensation for overtime. Nothing in the MLC forbids rolling leave pay into a consolidated figure. What matters is transparency: Standard A2.1, paragraph 4 requires the SEA to contain, among other particulars, the amount of wages or the formula used to calculate them, and the amount of paid annual leave or the formula used to calculate it.

If your SEA lists a single monthly number and says nothing about leave, ask in writing before you sign. A good answer looks like: 'Your total monthly wage of X includes basic Y, fixed overtime Z and leave pay of N days per month.' A vague answer, or a refusal to put it in writing, is one of the classic warning signs we cover in our guide to reading an employment agreement.

Short answer: the shipowner can generally plan when leave is taken, but the MLC guidance says leave should be taken at a place you have a real connection with, and you should only be recalled in an extreme emergency and with your consent.

Guideline B2.4.2 says seafarers should in principle have the right to take annual leave in the place with which they have a substantial connection, which is normally the same as the place to which they are entitled to be repatriated. The same guideline says a seafarer taking annual leave should be recalled only in cases of extreme emergency and with the seafarer's consent.

Guideline B2.4.3 covers splitting and carrying over leave. Dividing annual leave into parts, or accumulating leave earned in one year with a later period, may be authorised by the competent authority or through the appropriate machinery in each country. Unless an agreement says otherwise, the recommended leave should consist of an uninterrupted period.

Leave is also linked to the maximum time on board. Standard A2.5.1, paragraph 2(b) requires each flag state to set the maximum duration of service periods on board after which a seafarer is entitled to repatriation, and those periods must be less than 12 months. In practice this is the reason a company cannot simply keep you aboard indefinitely and call it 'leave deferred'. If your contract has already ended and you are still on board, see our separate guide on overstayed contracts.

Short answer: yes. Regulation 2.4, paragraph 2 of MLC 2006 says seafarers shall be granted shore leave to benefit their health and well-being and consistent with the operational requirements of their positions. It is a right, but it is not unconditional.

Two sets of rules decide whether you actually get off the ship. The first is the shipowner and master, who must balance shore leave against watchkeeping, cargo operations, port stay and safe manning. A ship working cargo around the clock with a short port call may legitimately need most of the crew on board. The second is the port state, whose immigration, health and security authorities decide whether foreign crew may land at all.

The IMO Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (the FAL Convention) has long said that crew members should be allowed ashore while the ship is in port once arrival formalities are complete, unless the authorities have reasons of public health, public safety or public order to refuse. The ILO Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185) was designed to make shore leave easier for holders of a compliant seafarer identity document, although not every country has ratified it. The ISPS Code also says, in its preamble, that ship and port facility security plans should take into account that ship's personnel live and work on the vessel and need shore leave and access to welfare facilities ashore.

Reality still varies a lot by country. Some states require a visa or crew landing permit for every foreign seafarer, regardless of nationality. The United States, for example, generally expects foreign crew to hold a valid D (crew) visa, often issued as a combined C1/D visa, and US Customs and Border Protection decides at arrival whether shore leave is granted. Some terminals add their own escort or transport rules. If you are joining a ship that will call at countries with strict landing rules, check your visa position before you leave home.

Short answer: the 2025 amendments, adopted by the International Labour Conference on 6 June 2025 and expected to enter into force on 23 December 2027, strengthen shore leave, recognise seafarers as key workers and tighten repatriation rules.

According to summaries published by Britannia P&I and DNV, the amendments say member states should facilitate shore leave without discrimination once arrival formalities are complete, unless there is a serious risk to public health, safety, security or public order, and that seafarers should not need a visa or permit for shore leave. Shipowners are expected to allow shore leave during off-duty hours where it does not compromise safety or operations. Member states should also recognise seafarers as key workers, so that they can move safely to join ships, take shore leave, be repatriated, change crew and get medical care ashore.

Until those amendments enter into force for a given country, the current text of Regulation 2.4 and each port state's immigration rules continue to apply. After entry into force, the practical effect will still depend on how each port state implements them. Treat 2027 as a date when your negotiating position on shore leave improves, not as a date when every port suddenly opens its gates.

Short answer: first raise it on board through the complaint procedure, then with the company, and then, if needed, with the flag state, the port state control authority or a seafarers' welfare organisation. Keep records at every step.

Regulation 5.1.5 requires ships to have on-board complaint procedures, and Standard A5.1.5 says seafarers must not be victimised for filing a complaint. Every seafarer should receive a copy of the on-board complaint procedures, which must include contact details of the competent authority in the flag state and in the seafarer's country of residence. Use them. A written complaint creates a record that later helps an inspector or union.

For shore leave, it helps to separate the cause. If the port state refused landing, the master and company usually cannot override it, but a port welfare organisation such as a seafarers' centre or a port chaplaincy can sometimes arrange access to welfare facilities. If the refusal came from the ship side with no clear operational reason, record the dates and the reason given. Repeated, unexplained refusal can be raised with the flag state or with an ITF inspector.

For leave pay, compare your final wage account against your SEA. Standard A2.2, paragraph 2 entitles you to a monthly account of payments due and amounts paid. If accrued leave pay is missing at sign-off, write to the company with the calculation. Guideline B2.2.2, paragraph 4(d) says all remuneration due on termination should be paid without undue delay. If that fails, the ITF complaint route is described in our step-by-step guide.

Before signing, look for four things in the SEA and its wage scale: the number of leave days per month (at least 2.5), whether leave pay is separate or part of a consolidated wage, when leave pay is paid (monthly, or at sign-off), and the maximum period on board before repatriation. If any of these are missing, ask for them in writing. Standard A2.1, paragraph 1(b) gives you the right to examine and seek advice on the agreement before signing.

Also keep your own record of days on board. Your sea service record is useful for your next certificate, and it also lets you check leave pay to the day. The free ShipCrewFinder sea time tracker counts days per vessel and rank automatically, and the CV builder turns that record into a clean profile companies can read in seconds.

If you want a contract where these terms are spelled out before you apply, create a free crew profile on ShipCrewFinder. Companies post jobs directly with rank, vessel and contract details, there is no agency in the middle, and seafarers never pay a recruitment fee.