Togo has a coastline of about fifty kilometers and a deep-water port at Lome that handles more transshipment than most of West Africa. Its ship register is a different business. The Ministry of Maritime Economy, Fisheries and Coastal Protection in Lome is the flag authority, but the international register is administered by the International Registration Bureau, a private office in Piraeus, and it is that office a seafarer deals with. The flag stands on the Paris MoU black list and on the ITF list of flags of convenience. It also publishes a dedicated complaint address, which several better-known flags do not. Both facts belong in your head before you sign.
Before you sign a contract under the Togo flag, know which laws apply. You can check your seafarer contract free in the MLC Checker Tool: pick Togo, and the report reads your SEA against MLC 2006 and the verified Togolese facts.
Fourth in Africa to ratify, a code four years later
Togo registered its MLC 2006 ratification on March 14, 2012, the fourth African state to do so and ahead of most of the continent's larger flags. National law caught up in 2016: Law No. 2016-028 of October 11, 2016 established the Code de la marine marchande, the Merchant Marine Code, which is the statute a Togolese court or the ministry applies to a ship under the flag. For a seafarer employment agreement that means two layers, the Convention as the international floor and the Code as the national text, the same structure the big registers use.
The Code is in French, as is the ministry. The registry in Piraeus works in English. When a clause in your SEA points to Togolese law, the practical question is which of the two you can actually read and which office will actually answer. On this flag, expect the answer to come from Piraeus, if it comes.
A complaint address, published
The registry's contact page names a complaint inbox and a separate administration address. That is a small thing that separates Togo from most of the black list: Comoros publishes nothing, Cameroon is not party to the Convention at all, Guinea-Bissau routes seafarers through the same operations desk that serves the owner. Togo gives you a door with the word complaint on it.
Use it early and copy the ITF. A complaint that reaches a bureau in Piraeus while the ship is in Lagos has no deadline attached; a complaint that also reaches the ITF inspector in Lagos does. The verified addresses stand on the Togo flag page of the checker.
What the MLC floor gives you on a Togo ship
Because Togo ratified and legislated, every Togo-flagged ship of 500 gross tons or more on international voyages must carry a Maritime Labour Certificate and a Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance. Ask to see both at sign-on. The declaration tells you how Togo implemented each rule, and the SEA has to match it:
- A written SEA signed by you and the shipowner or the owner's representative, with an original you keep.
- Wages at least monthly, with a monthly statement of pay and deductions.
- At least 10 hours of rest in any 24 and 77 in any seven days, recorded and countersigned.
- Paid annual leave of at least 2.5 calendar days per month of service.
- Repatriation at the shipowner's cost after a stated maximum time on board.
- Medical care and sick pay after illness or injury, within the limit the flag allows.
- The on-board complaint procedure, in writing, handed over with the SEA.
On an open register with no national collective agreement, the floor is usually the whole offer: sixteen weeks of sickness cover, the lowest overtime surcharge, seven days of notice. If your SEA names an ITF approved agreement, your paper is stronger. The lines that usually go wrong are in our guide to seafarer contract red flags, and the basic wage line is covered in the seafarer minimum wage guide.
Black list in Europe, low performance in Asia
On the Paris MoU performance list valid July 1, 2026 to July 6, 2027, Togo stands on the black list at rank 62 of 69. The Tokyo MoU rates the flag low performance for 2022 to 2024. The ITF lists Togo as a flag of convenience on its 2025 list.
For you the black list has a concrete effect at the gangway. Port state control officers in Europe treat the flag as a risk factor: they board Togo ships more often, they read the crew documents harder, and they detain more readily when the SEA, the rest hour sheets or the payslips do not match what the crew says. A detention is the owner's problem first. It becomes yours when a held ship stops paying and stops relieving. Know the repatriation clause before that day, and know who must pay for the flight: under the Convention it is the shipowner, and the flag state stands behind the owner if the owner fails. On a black list flag, plan for the ITF to be the one that actually makes the call.
Free crew appSeafarer Contract CheckCheck your contract clause by clause against MLC 2006 and flag state regulations. The check is free. On iPhone, Android or in the browser.
Togo flag in the contract: what I check before sign-on
- The SEA names Togo as the flag and the 2016 Merchant Marine Code as the governing law, not a generic clause.
- Basic wage, overtime and leave pay in separate lines.
- The sickness clause: weeks of wages after being landed sick, and when the owner's liability ends.
- The repatriation clause names the shipowner as the payer and sets a maximum time on board.
- A collective agreement is named and attached, or you know in writing that none applies.
- The on-board complaint procedure came with the SEA, and the registry complaint address is written down somewhere the master cannot take from you.
How this flag compares with every other register, and where the other black list flags sit, is in our guide to flags of convenience and your contract. The step by step use of the checker is in How to Use the MLC Contract Check. For a black list register with a written complaint timetable, read our guide to Palau flag labor law.
How the Togo flag rates in port state control
Port state control keeps score on every flag. The regional inspection regimes publish each year which registers get detained most, and the ITF keeps its own list of flags of convenience. This is where Togo stands on the current lists:
- Paris MoU (Europe and Canada): black list, rank 62 of 69, performance list valid July 1, 2026 to July 6, 2027.
- Tokyo MoU (Asia Pacific): low performance, inspections and detentions 2022 to 2024.
- ITF: listed as a flag of convenience, 2025 list.
- MLC 2006: ratified 14 Mar 2012.
These lists count detentions, not contracts. A white list flag can still sit under a bad SEA, and a black list flag tells you how much backing to expect from the administration when something goes wrong on board. The current rating of every flag we cover stands on the Togo flag page, and the app report names MLC 2006 plus the flag at the top of every check, with the same rating next to it.
Source note
ILO NORMLEX ratification register for MLC 2006 (Togo, March 14, 2012); Law No. 2016-028 of October 11, 2016 establishing the Code de la marine marchande; the Togo international registry contact page (togoregistrar.com); Paris MoU performance lists valid July 1, 2026 to July 6, 2027; Tokyo MoU Annual Report 2024, Table 8; ITF list of FOC registries 2025. Flag facts checked against these sources on September 1, 2026. This article is editorial context for working seafarers, not legal advice.
FAQ
Has Togo ratified MLC 2006?
Yes. Togo registered its ratification on March 14, 2012, the fourth African state to do so. The governing law is Law No. 2016-028 of October 11, 2016, which established the Code de la marine marchande.
Who runs the Togo ship register?
The Ministry of Maritime Economy, Fisheries and Coastal Protection in Lome is the flag authority. The international register is administered on its behalf by the International Registration Bureau, an office in Piraeus, Greece.
Is Togo a flag of convenience?
Yes. The ITF lists Togo as a flag of convenience on its 2025 list. The flag stands on the Paris MoU black list, rank 62 of 69, on the performance list valid July 2026 to July 2027, and at low performance in the Tokyo MoU region for 2022 to 2024.
Where do I send an MLC complaint about a Togo-flagged ship?
After the on-board procedure, to the registry's published complaint address, complaint@togoregistrar.com. Copy the ITF. In a foreign port, port state control and the ITF inspector apply MLC 2006 to the ship regardless of flag.
What law applies to my contract on a Togo-flagged ship?
MLC 2006 as carried into Togolese law by the 2016 Merchant Marine Code. On an open register with no national collective agreement behind it, the Convention minimums are usually the whole offer, so read the SEA against them line by line.
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