Context: financial security for long-term disability
Since 18 January 2017, the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) has required shipowners to have financial security covering the death or long-term disability of seafarers due to an occupational injury, illness or hazard. The amount of compensation and the assessment rules, however, mainly follow the employment contract and the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), for example one concluded with the ITF or within the IBF.
The typical procedure: company doctor, seafarer’s doctor, third doctor
Many collective agreements provide that the degree of disability is assessed by a doctor appointed by the shipowner. If a doctor appointed by the seafarer disagrees, the company and the union may jointly nominate a third doctor whose decision is binding on both parties. Deadlines, the table and how doctors are nominated depend on the specific agreement — check them with your lawyer or union before any deadline passes.
Fitness for duty versus lasting consequences
A medical certificate or clearance to return on board (fit for duty) confirms that the seafarer can work. It is not automatically an assessment of the lasting consequences of an injury — reduced mobility, muscle weakness, scars, adhesions, implants or discomfort in safety footwear. Those require a separate, documented assessment.
What an independent opinion can cover
A treatment timeline (vessel, port, repatriation, home country), a description of lasting consequences with measurements, a reference to the table in the applicable agreement and the impact on typical shipboard tasks: ladders and steep stairs, work in squatting positions and confined spaces, safety footwear. The report can be prepared in English. Whether it meets the requirements of a specific agreement as the seafarer’s doctor’s assessment depends on that agreement.
Measurements, records and limits
If measurements are missing from the records, the records alone may not suffice — the treating physician or a physiotherapist can provide them, and an examination in Germany is possible after case assessment. Missing records from Polish providers can be requested with your authorisation. We do not assess claims or compensation amounts, do not represent either party and cannot guarantee that the shipowner, the P&I club or a third doctor will accept the opinion.