Methodology & Sources

MLC Contract Check · free seafarer contract checker by 7SHORT1LONG® · Last legal-content review: July 2026 · This page documents exactly what the tool evaluates, what it cannot evaluate, and the source behind every rule.

What the checker evaluates

The tool reads the wording of an uploaded Seafarer Employment Agreement (SEA) clause by clause and compares it against the following standards. Every finding in a report cites the specific provision it rests on:

• Parties and signature — MLC Standard A2.1: both parties identified, seafarer signs and keeps an original, opportunity to review and seek advice before signing.
• Basic wage — MLC Standard A2.2, benchmarked against the ILO minimum basic wage for an able seafarer set by the ILO Joint Maritime Commission: USD 690 per month from January 1, 2026; USD 704 from 2027; USD 715 from 2028.
• Overtime — MLC Guideline B2.2.2: at least 1.25× the basic hourly rate, with records kept.
• Hours of work and rest — MLC Standard A2.3: minimum 10 hours rest in any 24-hour period and 77 hours in any 7-day period; no more than two rest periods, one of at least 6 hours.
• Paid annual leave — MLC Standard A2.4: minimum 2.5 calendar days per month; agreements to forgo paid leave are prohibited.
• Repatriation — MLC Standard A2.5: at the shipowner's cost; no advance payment by the seafarer and no wage deductions, except in cases of serious default; service period before entitlement under 12 months.
• Medical care and shipowner liability — MLC Regulations 4.1, 4.2 and Standard A4.2.
• Recruitment and placement fees — MLC Standard A1.4 paragraph 5: no fees to the seafarer beyond statutory personal documents.
• Termination and notice — MLC Standard A2.1 paragraphs 5-6: minimum 7 days for both parties.
• Collective bargaining agreement and complaint rights — MLC Regulation 5.1.5 / Standard A5.1.5 and ITF policy: waivers of CBA coverage, union contact or the right to complain are treated as red findings.
• Social security — MLC Standard A4.5: what protection is stated.

What the checker cannot evaluate

• Whether the company will honor the contract in practice — it reviews wording, not conduct, and makes no statement about any company.
• National law beyond the verified flag-state facts listed below; where a flag-law detail would matter, the report says so and refers you to the administration.
• Documents that are not employment agreements, unreadable scans, or terms agreed verbally.
• Wage adequacy for ranks without a published ILO benchmark — the AB floor is the reference point.

Supported flag states

Fifty-nine flag states have verified modules. Authority, governing law and complaint contact for each were verified against the official registry or administration website, the ILO ratification register and the flag's own MLC circulars; the verification date stands on every flag page. Thirty flags were added on September 1, 2026, among them every flag on the Paris MoU black list for 2023 to 2025. Four of the fifty-nine are not party to MLC 2006 (Vanuatu, Cameroon, the United States, Saudi Arabia); their pages say so, and the check reads those contracts against the Convention because port state control applies it to the ship regardless. Each flag page also shows the Paris MoU, Tokyo MoU and ITF rating of the flag, with the source and period.

Any other flag runs against the full MLC 2006 baseline without flag-specific contacts. The analysis is instructed to cite only these verified facts for flag matters and never to invent national provisions.

Primary sources

• Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended — ILO (the convention text behind every MLC citation).
• ILO Joint Maritime Commission — minimum basic wage for able seafarers, 2026-2028.
• ITF Seafarers — published employment guidance and support contacts.
• Official flag-state registries and administrations, as listed per flag above.

We do not use commercial blogs as legal authorities.

How the check works

The uploaded PDF or photo is sent to a large language model (Anthropic Claude) with a fixed checklist covering the standards above and the verified flag-state facts for the selected registry. The model must return a structured, clause-by-clause result; every red or amber finding must quote or closely paraphrase the contract wording and cite a real provision. Findings are rendered as the color-coded report you see.

Privacy and document processing

Your uploaded file and its document text are processed only to generate the report and are not stored by 7SHORT1LONG. Per check we retain anonymous statistics — the selected flag state, the check mode, the verdict, the score and the categories of flagged provisions — for an annual report on contract quality. These statistics contain no document content, cannot be connected to you and cannot be reconstructed into your contract. Details in our privacy policy.

Update history

Report an incorrect finding

If a report cites a provision incorrectly or a flag contact is out of date, use the feedback box on the tool page — every message is read, and corrections are prioritized. Legal-content reviews are dated at the top of this page.