As part of mission to make human rights part of every day business, the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) engages with a range of organisations to promote responsible practices in specific industry sectors. Our role is to work with partner organisations as well as other stakeholders in government, business, and civil society as an impartial and ‘critical friend’, dedicated to advancing the business and human rights agenda globally.

In October 2021, IHRB, in partnership with the Sustainable Shipping Initiative and the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, published an industry Code of Conduct for Delivering on Seafarers' Rights to improve the human rights and welfare of the world’s nearly two million seafarers. This is accompanied by a self-assessment questionnaire for ship owners and operators (free to download on IHRB and SSI websites and available via RightShip’s Crew Welfare Self-Assessment Tool), that is designed to assist them in assessing their own operational standards and improving their practices over time.

Our aim with the Code of Conduct and the self-assessment questionnaire is to increase awareness and engagement on seafarers’ welfare among shipowners, ship operators, charterers and cargo owners, and to drive individual and collective action, and increased transparency, that align with international human rights and labour standards.

IHRB views this initiative as an initial step in the longer-term actions needed to prevent and mitigate human rights risks and impacts by all actors throughout the maritime industry, from ship financing and building through to operations and recycling. Codes of conduct and self-assessment tools help raise awareness among industry actors and assist companies in implementing their responsibility to respect human rights as set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These tools are only one part of wider efforts needed to integrate robust human rights due diligence into business operations and throughout global supply chains.

Positive change will require a range of measures by multiple actors. These include effective legislative and enforcement mechanisms by governments to hold companies accountable for abuses of rights, as well as efforts by financiers, insurers, and customers to require human rights due diligence as part of contracts with maritime partners. Companies that do not meet their responsibility to respect human rights should face appropriate consequences – reputational, financial, and legal. Fundamentally, responsible and positive actions must include ongoing efforts by maritime industry actors to engage in meaningful and ongoing dialogue with potentially affected stakeholders, and to account
for how they are implementing human rights due diligence in their operations and business relationships. Other relevant stakeholders such as labour unions and civil society organisations also play a crucial role in strengthening transparency and accountability.

IHRB looks forward to continuing on-going constructive engagement with all actors committed to strengthening protection of and respect for human rights in the maritime industry.

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