The Ministry of Transport will provide identity documents to Maldivian seamen in accordance with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards in June, the Ministry said.
Deputy Transport Minister Hamad Abdul Ghani said they are working with immigration to create a seafarers identity document that meets the standards accepted by ports abroad. He said that with the current efforts they will be able to accomplish it in a month's time.
Hamad said that at the moment, Maldivian seamen are not allowed to enter some ports in Brazil and the Americas.
Asia Management, the agent of more than 80 seamen in the country, said with the ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) conventions, there is a high possibility that local seamen will lose their permits to enter ports in other regions in the future.
Over the past 10 years, Asia Management has expressed concern over the lack of standard seamen identity documents.