Vietnam sits in two columns of the world's port state control tables at once. In the Tokyo MoU region, where its ships actually trade, almost 2,500 inspections in three years earned the flag a high performance rating. In Europe, where only a handful of Vietnamese ships call, the same flag stands on the Paris MoU black list. Both are true, and a seafarer signing under this flag should know which side of the world the ship will be inspected on. Behind the ratings stands a national law that names the seafarer labour contract by article number, and an administration in Hanoi that answers through the ports.
Before you sign a contract under the Vietnamese flag, know which laws apply. You can run your seafarer contract through the free MLC Contract Check: pick Vietnam, and the report reads your SEA against MLC 2006 and the verified Vietnamese facts.
The law under a Vietnamese SEA
Viet Nam registered its MLC 2006 ratification on May 8, 2013. The Convention was carried into national law by Decree No. 121/2014/ND-CP, the implementing decree, and then anchored in the Vietnam Maritime Code 2015, whose Article 62 governs seafarer labour contracts. The Labour Code 2019 sits behind both as the general employment law. Three layers, then: the Convention as the floor, the decree as the implementation, the Maritime Code and the Labour Code as the national text a court or the administration applies.
For a seafarer the practical point is that the Vietnamese SEA is a labour contract in the full sense of the Labour Code, not a bare Convention form. It is governed by a body of national employment law with courts and labour inspectors behind it, which is more than an open register offers. Whether that law reaches you depends on the SEA naming it, so read the governing law clause first.
The administration: Hanoi through the ports
The competent authority is the Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration, VIMAWA, known for years as Vinamarine and now under the Ministry of Construction, at Pham Hung Road in Hanoi. It acts through the regional maritime administrations at the ports, which is where a seafarer meets it. There is no dedicated MLC complaint inbox. A complaint goes to the administration through its general e-mail and phone, or in person to the port's maritime administration, which for a crew member in Hai Phong or Ho Chi Minh City is a walk, not a letter.
Write the complaint down, date it, keep a copy, and copy the ITF. The verified addresses stand on the Vietnam flag page of the checker.
What the MLC floor gives you on a Vietnamese ship
Because Vietnam ratified and legislated, every Vietnamese-flagged ship of 500 gross tons or more on international voyages carries a Maritime Labour Certificate and a Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance. Both must be on board and available to you. The lines in the SEA that have to match them:
- A written seafarer labour contract under Article 62, signed by you and the shipowner or the owner's representative, with a copy you keep.
- Wages at least monthly, with a monthly account of pay and deductions.
- At least 10 hours of rest in any 24-hour period and 77 hours in any seven days, recorded and countersigned.
- Paid annual leave of at least 2.5 calendar days per month of employment.
- Repatriation at the shipowner's cost, with a maximum period of service before it is due.
- Medical care and sick pay after illness or injury.
- A written on-board complaint procedure handed over with the contract.
Vietnamese ships often sail under a collective agreement with the national seafarer union. If the SEA names one, the agreement sets the wage scale and the overtime rate above the floor; make sure it is attached. How the basic wage relates to the ILO minimum is in our seafarer minimum wage guide. The clauses that usually go wrong are in our guide to seafarer contract red flags.
Two lists, one flag
The split deserves a closer look, because it decides how much outside attention your ship will get. On the Paris MoU performance list valid July 1, 2026 to July 6, 2027, Vietnam stands on the black list at rank 66 of 69. The Tokyo MoU rates the flag high performance for 2022 to 2024 on almost 2,500 inspections. The ITF does not list Vietnam as a flag of convenience.
The numbers behind the two results are not the same ships. Vietnamese tonnage trades mostly within Asia; the fleet inspected in Tokyo MoU ports is the whole flag, and it performs well. The fleet inspected in Europe is small, and a few detentions among a few inspections pushes a flag down the Paris list fast. For you: a Vietnamese ship on an Asian run is inspected less often than the average, and your own copies of the rest hour sheets and payslips are the main outside check on the owner. A Vietnamese ship heading for Europe will be boarded as a black list ship, with the crew documents read hard. Either way, keep the paper in order.
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.
The two-flag life of a Vietnamese seafarer
Most Vietnamese crew sail under foreign flags, and the law under those ships is the flag state's law, not Article 62. A Vietnamese fitter on a Marshall Islands tanker has a Marshall Islands SEA and Marshall Islands law behind it. The Vietnamese administration still regulates the crew supply company that placed him, so a complaint about the agency goes home; a complaint about the ship goes to the flag, to port state control and to the ITF. How the biggest open registries treat a Vietnamese crew member is in our guides to Marshall Islands flag labor law and Liberia flag labor law.
Vietnamese flag in the contract: what I check before sign-on
- The SEA names Vietnam as the flag and the Maritime Code 2015 and Decree 121 as the governing law.
- Basic wage, overtime and leave pay in separate lines, with the collective agreement attached if one is named.
- The rest hour rule is written in and the record is on board.
- The repatriation clause names the shipowner as the payer and sets a maximum time on board.
- The on-board complaint procedure came with the contract, and you know the port administration you can walk into.
- The Maritime Labour Certificate and the DMLC are on board and available to crew.
How Vietnam compares with every other register is in our guide to flags of convenience and your contract. For the other big Asian crew-supplying flags, read our guides to Philippine flag labor law and Indonesia flag labor law.
How the Vietnam 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 Vietnam stands on the current lists:
- Paris MoU (Europe and Canada): black list, rank 66 of 69, performance list valid July 1, 2026 to July 6, 2027.
- Tokyo MoU (Asia Pacific): high performance, inspections and detentions 2022 to 2024.
- ITF: not listed as a flag of convenience, 2025 list.
- MLC 2006: ratified 08 May 2013.
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 Vietnam 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 (Viet Nam, May 8, 2013); the Vietnam Maritime Code 2015, Article 62; Decree No. 121/2014/ND-CP; the Labour Code 2019; Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration contact pages; 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 Vietnam ratified MLC 2006?
Yes. Viet Nam registered its ratification on May 8, 2013. Decree No. 121/2014/ND-CP implements the Convention, and Article 62 of the Vietnam Maritime Code 2015 governs seafarer labour contracts, alongside the Labour Code 2019.
Which authority handles MLC matters on a Vietnamese-flagged ship?
The Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration, VIMAWA, formerly Vinamarine, under the Ministry of Construction in Hanoi, acting through the regional maritime administrations at the ports.
Why is Vietnam on the Paris MoU black list but high performance in the Tokyo MoU?
The two regimes count different ships. Almost 2,500 Tokyo MoU inspections in three years produced a high performance rating; the far smaller number of Vietnamese ships inspected in Europe produced a black list result, rank 66 of 69, on the list valid July 2026 to July 2027.
Where do I complain about conditions on a Vietnamese-flagged ship?
After the on-board procedure, to the maritime administration through its general channels or in person at the port's regional maritime administration. There is no dedicated MLC complaint inbox. In a foreign port, port state control and the ITF inspector apply the Convention to the ship regardless.
Is Vietnam a flag of convenience?
No. The ITF does not list Vietnam as a flag of convenience. Vietnamese ships are, as a rule, Vietnamese owned and crewed under Vietnamese law.
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