Mariners, ship and, yacht owners and those interested in maritime affairs are invited to a meeting to discuss the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 on Thursday, July 16.

The purpose of the meeting is to educate the seafaring community on how the Convention 2006 will affect them individually. This is important as the Government of the Virgin Islands moves toward conforming and adopting the Marine Labour Convention 2006 into local maritime laws.

This convention that focuses on seafarer’s living and working conditions onboard ships is also known as the Seafarers’ Bill of Rights. It came into force internationally in August 2014.

The Virgin Islands is required to ratify this Convention into Virgin Islands law as an imminent Category 1 Red Ensign Group of the United Kingdom. The Convention also embodies all modern standards of international maritime labor conventions into one single coherent instrument and it will enforce international maritime labour standards on certain types of vessels in the Territory.

The public meeting will be held on Thursday, July 16, at 5:00 p.m. at the Training Centre, at the Training Division Department located on the First Floor of the Betteto Frett Building in Road Town.

Interested stakeholders in the seafaring community are requested to register for the meeting by emailing vishipping@gov.vg or by telephone at 284- 468-2902/03.