Responsible companies have processes in place to review decisions to operate, source or continue business activities in conflict zones, post-conflict areas or otherwise high-risk areas or countries.
These settings raise the risk of gross human rights abuses, and companies must apply heightened due diligence on these increased risks. They must also avoid contributing to breaches of international humanitarian law – complicity in war crimes – or exacerbating the conflict itself.
Through the International Bargaining Forum, which brings together the ITF and our affiliated maritime unions with maritime employers, the ITF maintains a negotiated list of prevailing warlike and high-risk areas – currently including the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Guinea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
On ships with ITF Agreements, seafarers are granted enhanced pay, protections and rights, reflecting the fundamental right in ILO Convention 155 on occupational safety and health for a worker to remove themselves from a situation of imminent and serious danger.