7
Shipowners' Liability (Sick and Injured Ceamen) Convention, 1936 (No. 55), or Cickness Insurance (Sea) Convention, 1936 (No. 56), or Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention, 1269 (No. 130)
Conventions Nos. 55 and 130 have not been ratified by the United. Kingdom and are not applied to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has reserved its decision on Convention No. 56. However, as mentioned above, shipowners' liability in
in respect of sick and injured seamen is covered by section 34- the United Kingdom Merchant Shipping Act 1906, by clauses 4 to 8 of the Terms of Service of the Articles of Agreement and by the provisions of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance. These provisions are substantially equivalent to those of Conventions Nos. 55 and 130.
of
Medical Examination (Seafarers) Conventions, 1946 (No. 73)
Convention No. 73 has not been ratified by the United Kingdom and is not applied. to Hong Kong. It requires that seamen must be medically examined every two years. The practice in Hong Kong is for a seamen to be medically examined every time before signing on unless he has been examined within the last six to 12 months. As the duration of Articles of Agreement seldom exceeds two years, seamen are in effect medically examined about every two years.
With regard to the Committee of Experts' request for information on the enactment of the proposed Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) (Medical Examination) Regulations the Hong Kong Government would like to report that they are expected to be enacted in 1992. When enacted, copies of the new set of regulations will be supplied to the ILO. In the meantime, by administrative measure, a list of approved doctors is maintained by the Marine Department. These doctors are advised of the standards set by the convention.
As there is до legislative: provision requiring such medical examinations at present, the following modification in respect of Article 2(a) of Convention No. 147 is necessary :
"There is no legislative provision requiring seafarers to be medically examined at two-yearly intervals as stipulated in the Medical Examination (Seafarers) Convention, 1946 (No. 73)."
There are no measures which give
give effect to the provisions of
Articles 6 and 9 of Convention No. 73.
With the enactment of the Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) (Medical Examination) Regulations, effect will be given to implementing provisions of Article 8 of the convention.
the