Written for seafarers Reviewed for accuracy by crew who have stood the watch.
Look up from almost any berth in the world and you will find the Panama flag on a stern nearby. One of the largest registries on earth means one thing for you: whatever is going wrong with your contract, wages or rest hours, the Panama Maritime Authority has seen it before. There is a desk for it.
Start on board, and put it in writing
The MLC on-board complaint procedure comes first, and that is not a formality that buries your case. MLC Regulation 5.1.5 requires the procedure to exist on every ship the Convention covers, and it forbids victimization for using it. Hand your complaint to your head of department or the master, keep a dated copy for yourself, and note who received it. That dated copy becomes the spine of everything that follows.
The flag state desk that actually exists
Panama implements the MLC through Executive Decree No. 86 of 2013. The competent office is the Department of Maritime Labour Affairs at the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP).
- Email: mlcsegumar@amp.gob.pa or mlc@segumar.com
- Phone: +507 501 4241
These are the same contacts our contract checker shows when you select the Panama flag. They were verified against the official sources, not copied from a forum post.
What to put in the email
Short and complete beats long and vague. An inspector reading complaints in Panama City needs five things.
- Ship name and IMO number.
- Your rank and the dates of your contract.
- What happened, in dates and numbers: months of wages missing, rest hours cut, repatriation refused.
- What you already did on board, with the date you filed the on-board complaint.
- Copies: your SEA, wage statements, anything signed.
The other doors stay open
A flag state complaint does not close the other routes. The ITF helps crews on Panama-flagged ships every week, and port state control at your next berth can inspect the ship against the MLC regardless of the flag it flies. Use the door that is closest.
Crew questions
Do I have to finish the on-board procedure before writing to the AMP?
The MLC expects the on-board route to be available and used where possible, and a seafarer always keeps the right to complain directly to the flag state administration. Practically: file on board first if you safely can, then escalate without waiting forever for an answer that is not coming.
My contract is with a manning agency, not the shipowner. Does the flag state still apply?
Yes. The ship flies the Panama flag, so Panama's MLC implementation covers work on board, whoever signed as employer. Send the SEA along with the complaint and let the inspectors sort out the chain of responsibility.
Before it gets that far: run your contract through the free MLC Contract Check and pick the Panama flag. In problem mode the report names the strongest clause-based ground for a complaint and puts the AMP contact right under the verdict.
Sources
Panama Maritime Authority (amp.gob.pa), Executive Decree No. 86 of 2013, and ITF: your rights under the MLC.
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