GIBRALTAR MARITIME ADMINISTRATION(Ministry of Maritime Affairs)

Watergate House
2/8 Casemates SquareGibraltar

Tel (+350) 200 46862 / 47771 / 50424
Fax (+350) 200 47770
e-mail: maritime.survey@gibraltar.gov.gi
maritime.registry@gibraltar.gov.gi

Maritime Labour Notice (MLN) – 015 Revised 10.06.13______________________________________________________________________________
To: Ship Owners, Operators, Masters, Officers and Classification Societies

MLC Title 4.1 Medical care on board ship and ashore

This MLN provides guidance on compliance with Gibraltar regulations which give effect to MLC
2006 Title 4.1. Implementation of these guidelines will be taken as evidence of compliance with
the Gibraltar regulations.
The guidelines do not preclude the shipowner from demonstrating an equivalent or higher
standard as an “alternative method” of evidence of compliance.

Documents referred to in this notice:
Maritime Labour Convention 2006
Gibraltar Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 2000
Gibraltar Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Regulations 2012. Reg.28
Form RA-09-F033 - Ship Master’s Medical Report Form
Most regulations and notices are available on the Gibraltar website: www.gibraltarship.com

Provision of Medical Care

Evidence of Compliance
1. The shipowner shall provide medical and essential dental care at no cost to seafarers.
In general, the seafarer should have health care as comparable as possible to that generally available
to workers ashore.

Page 1 of 32. Only ships with 100 or more persons on board are required to carry a medical doctor. Ships that arecapable of reaching medical facilities within eight hours should have at least one designated seafarerwith STCW A-VI/4.1 approved medical first-aid training. All other ships should have at least one
designated seafarer for medical care approved to STCW A-VI/4.2.
3. Vessels must carry the appropriate radio equipment for the size of ship, and be able to receive
medical advice from coast radio stations and shore services where medical advice can be obtained.
(Radio Medical Advice is available to all ships at sea by contacting HM Coastguard. Advice isprovided by two UK designated centres at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Queen Alexandra Hospital,Portsmouth, but initial contact should be made with the Coastguard. There are other Radio Medical
Advice centres around the world. The Captain should contact the nearest one to the ships position
which can give him the best advice).
4. Shipowners should provide information on preventative measures such as health promotion andhealth education programmes to seafarers.
5. The shipowner can refer to information regarding health promotion and education activities which
are available through several industry publications.
For example see:www.seafarershealth.org
www.dft.gov.uk/mca/min37pdf

6. Shipowners should refer to the Gibraltar Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 2000 forguidance on medicines and medical supplies carried onboard and information on checking andsecuring contents.
Publications
7. The International Medical Guide for Ships and the International Code of Signals should be available
to the designated seafarer for medical care or the ship’s doctor, as applicable.
8. The shipowner should maintain current copies of the following publications onboard for assistancein developing medical help and evacuation programs:
a.
b.
c.
d.

International Medical Guide for Ships (or the Ship Captain’s Medical Guide)
Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods
Document for Guidance – An International Maritime Training Guide
International Code of Signals (Medical Section)

9. The Master’s Medical Report (Gibraltar form RA-09-F033) should be available onboard. Note thatthe information collected on these forms remains confidential and should not be communicated withanyone who is not involved with the medical care of the seafarer.
RA-09-F033 – Ship Master’s Medical Report Form
10. The purpose of RA-09-F033 is to capture a sufficiently comprehensive record of every medicalcase on board and thereafter it shall be safely filed in the ships medical log.
a). The form records the initial onboard report details on the front page andb). continues on the back page with any telemedical details that may have been requested by theship,(applicable radio logs may be attached as relevant medical records).
c). It concludes with a report from the examining doctor where the seafarer needs to be seen by adoctor. On ships that carry a doctor this may be an onboard visit but more likely will be a visit to adoctor onshore.

Page 2 of 3d). Shipowners may use their own Medical Report form(s) so long as they contain, as a minimum,
the information in RA-09-F033.
11. See also MLN 021 which deals with Reporting of Occupational Accidents, Incidents and Diseases
Medical Care Ashore
12. Seafarers have the right to visit a medical doctor or dentist without delay in ports of call wherepractical. ‘Where practical’ relates to the availability of medical facilities and not the convenience ofthe ship.
13. The shipowner should assist seafarers suffering from disease in gaining admission to medicalfacilities for care.

Medical Assistance to Other Ships and International Cooperation
14. The shipowner should provide guidance for rendering aid to other vessels in distress. Guidance
can be obtained from the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, 1979, asamended, and the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual.
These publications, if applicable, should be on board the ship.
Alan Cubbin
Maritime Administrator
Issue date: June 2013

All notices are available through www.gibraltarship.com

This copy of the Administrative Instruction has been sent electronically and does not carry a signature or official stamp. A sign andstamped copy will be available upon request

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