Repatriation of seafarers in Maritime Labour Law

The maritime industry is an area with its own unique aspects and an international dimension. Various regulations have been introduced for seafarers within the scope of these disparate and distinctive features of working at sea, one of which is repatriation. The repatriation of seafarers who were employed in a foreign country, perhaps quite far from their home, becomes apparent as a traditional maritime rule. In maritime labour law, the repatriation is among the rights of seafarers and amongst the obligations of employers or employers' representatives into the bargain. In the study, the provisions of the Maritime Labour Law No. 854 regarding to the repatriation of seafarers were examined. The regulations in the Law have been compared with the ones in the national legislation and International Labour Organization Conventions. In the first part of the study, the concept of repatriation is discussed in a general framework. Furthermore, the ship, seafarers and the persons who are responsible for repatriation of seafarers are emphasized together with their legal sources. In the second part, the circumstances of repatriation, how the cost to be covered with the included cost items are examined. In addition, transport to the place within the right to repatriation of the seafarer has been emphasized. In the last part, it has been seeked to analyze that in which occurences the repatriation obligation will terminate and sanctions for non-compliance with this obligation. On the other hand, the rights that the seafarer will have if seafarer pays for his own repatriation and the legal ways he can apply for the collection of his receivables are mentioned. In addition, the financial security system introduced by the Maritime Labour Convention in 2006 is also included in this section.