ILO Convention No. 185: seafarer identity documents

1 What it covers

Convention No. 185 sets requirements for the seafarer identity document: who issues it, what it contains, its validity, and how States facilitate shore leave, transit and transfer of seafarers.³

A seafarer identity document is not a passport and does not replace the record of sea service: these are three different documents. For Parties to the earlier Convention No. 108 its national issuing regime applies.^1,4

2 Documents in the reference

Seafarer identity documents: the international type and national documents.

• SIDSeafarer identity documentsSeafarers’ Identity Document (SID)and 3 brief entries in the reference

3 Where to read the text

ILO publishes the texts of its conventions on its website. This page is our own explanation, not a translation.

• Convention No. 185 as amended in 2016 (ILO, PDF)
• Convention No. 108 (1958) (ILO NORMLEX)