900,000 of them come to our shores each year and today seafarers are being recognised.

June 25th is the fourth annual International Day of the Seafarer, which is the term applied to anyone who works on a ship.

Local authorities are taking the opportunity to highlight the importance of welfare for those in the shipping industry, due to their often difficult and isolated work conditions.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is holding industry talks this week in Fremantle and Port Hedland, which is home to the country’s largest bulk export port.

AMSA’s Allan Schwartz says one of the key changes in the industry globally has been the introduction of the Maritime Labour Convention, by the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation (ILO).

“It’s taken a number of years for that convention to be accepted internationally and what it’s fundamentally saying is all of the seafarers on ships, who are trading around the world, should have exactly the same rights and protections as you and I.

“They should have a right to be paid, to get home, to be looked after and have a safe working environment and probably most people would say ‘Gee that’s taken a long time coming, it’s obvious we should have something like that.’”

The Maritime Labour Convention only came into effect less than 12 months ago, on August 20th 2013.

Despite only 40 countries ratifying the legislation, Mr Schwartz says there’s a global push to put seafarers’ welfare in the spotlight.

“We’re applying it to all of the ships that come to Australia and the majority of the very big shipping nations have agreed to this convention.

“But unfortunately it’s a fact that there are still ships out there where the crew aren’t being paid, aren’t being flown home at the end of their contracts and there are cases where crew have been treated very badly.”

A typical seafarer

There are roughly 1.4 million seafarers internationally, the vast majority are men and AMSA’s Allan Schwartz says they’re all nationalities

“Something like 90 per cent of world trade is carried by ships and every country in the world has seafarers, even Switzerland which is landlocked.

“Commonly they spend between nine and 12 months on a ship, trading around the world.

“They’re at work seven days a week and might be working a 10-14 hour day, often in isolation and rough conditions.

“It’s an unusual working environment because even when you finish your day’s work, you’re still at work.”

Mr Schwartz says the quick turn around at many modern ports means that crews may only have 24 hours on land after weeks at sea.

He says that’s where the volunteer services of Australian seafarers’ centres, located at several of our 70 national ports, make a big difference.

“Particularly when it comes to seafarers’ welfare, the only way that’s going to work is if everyone does a little bit.

“That’s where the seafarers’ centres serve such a fantastic purpose because all the crew need to do is get off the ship.

“Just to be able to go somewhere different, to get online to contact their families at home, to go to a shop; that can mean the absolute world to a seafarer.”

Mr Schwartz says AMSA is currently working to identify which seafarers’ centres are struggling and where they are most needed nationally.