This book was completed in the fifth year following the adoption of the Maritime Labour Convention, (MLC, )—the ‘seafarers’ bill of rights’— by the 49th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO), one of the oldest of the United Nations’ organizations and the first to become a UN specialized agency. It is also the year in which we expect that the very demanding legal requirement for entry into force of this convention, the formula, will be achieved. Then the foundational work—the dreaming, designing, and construction, imple- menting process—will enter a new phase.