The Ship Lifecycle: Embedding Human Rights from Shipyard to Scrapyard

Who’s behind it? – Institute for Human Rights and Business, the Danish Institute for Human Rights, and the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights (2019)

How can it help? – Maritime industry sustainability initiatives have generally prioritised environmental issues, with limited focus on human rights. This briefing presents human rights risks that actors involved in ocean transport may face throughout a ship’s lifecycle – from planning through to recycling. It provides good practice examples for shipping companies, operators, business customers and investors seeking to align with relevant international standards. The briefing focuses in particular on cargo and bulk ocean transport, and draws on standards set out in the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Hong Kong Convention on the Recycling of Ships.