International Maritime Employers' Council
IMEC · Founded 1965 · London, United Kingdom · United Kingdom
- Membership scope
- ~250 shipowning and manning-agency member companies operating ~13,000 vessels and employing ~250,000 seafarers globally.
- Key CBA framework
- IBF Framework Agreement (co-negotiated with ITF); IBF Total Crew Cost benchmark
- Website
- www.imec.org.uk
What this union does
The International Maritime Employers' Council was founded in 1965 by a group of European ship-management companies to consolidate the employer position in negotiations with the ITF. Today it is the largest single employer bargaining unit in international shipping, representing ~250 companies that between them operate ~13,000 vessels — approximately 15% of the global merchant fleet by count. IMEC's central function is co-negotiating the IBF Framework Agreement with the ITF at the annual International Bargaining Forum; the resulting CBA covers all seafarers working on member vessels and sets industry-wide minimum wage levels, overtime rates, leave entitlements, and paid-leave-during-repatriation frameworks. For seafarers, IMEC-signed vessels are marked by the presence of the IBF Green Book on board — the pocket-sized CBA reference that every crew member has the right to consult.
Contact route
https://www.imec.org.uk — general enquiries; individual grievances flow through the ship-operator HR department.