From 17 to 21 October 2022, a seminar on the maritime employment contract was held for shipowners and consignees, seafarers' unions, maritime administrations, social security administrations, judicial personnel (lawyers, judges), researchers, etc. from the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa. This seminar was held under the organization of the Interregional Maritime Security Institute (ISMI) of the Regional Academy of Marine Sciences and Techniques (ARSTM) of Côte d'Ivoire on the ARSTM site in Abidjan-Yopougon.

“Faced with shipowners and in an economic climate that is still difficult, seafarers do not always conclude the maritime employment contract under favourable conditions for them. In so doing, he sometimes puts his own interests at risk. In addition, due to the complexity of the maritime economy, the specific rules and procedures governing the maritime employment contract are sometimes ignored by the parties. (...)

The main objective of this training is to clarify the maritime engagement contract in order to assist stakeholders in optimal implementation in accordance with “national and international legal provisions governing maritime labour” announced Colonel Karim Coulibaly, director general of the Abidjan Regional Academy of Marine Science and Technology (ARSTM) on Friday, October 21, 2022, during the closing ceremony. of the seminar organized by ISMI on the maritime employment contract for maritime transport actors.

Over the five days of training, twenty Ivorian and foreign participants were instructed on several modules. These include the social security regime for seafarers, the execution of the maritime employment contract, conventions governing maritime labour, rules governing the conclusion and termination of a maritime employment contract, social benefits for seafarers, concepts of calculation of law and cong& for seafarers, for maritime labour disputes.