Access to safe, clean and adequate sanitation facilities is a core component of decent working and living conditions under the Maritime Labour Convention. In practice, seafarers often face significant risks where sanitation standards are substandard, poorly maintained or not accessible. Given that ships are both workplaces and living environments for seafarers, deficiencies in sanitation facilities directly impact health, dignity and safety.
Inadequate sanitation can lead to serious health risks, including gastrointestinal illness, infections and long-term conditions linked to poor hygiene. Where facilities are insufficient or unsafe, seafarers delay using them, increasing physical discomfort and further health complications.
Sanitation risks are also closely linked to inequality and discrimination. Women seafarers face heightened risks where facilities are not gender-appropriate, lack privacy or are shared in unsafe conditions – increasing exposure to harassment and undermining their ability to work safely and with dignity.
Poor sanitation is indicative of broader failures in living conditions, including overcrowding, inadequate maintenance and weak enforcement of labour standards. In isolated maritime environments, seafarers have limited ability to report deficiencies or seek remedy, particularly where grievance mechanisms are ineffective.
For more on access to sanitation facilities, discrimination, and violence and harassment, see the Risks Across Transport guidance.