China will increase international cooperation to safeguard the rights and interests of its 650,000 seafarers, said top seafarer officials in Shanghai."China will provide better security for its seafarers through international communication, and speed up the preparation work to ratify the Maritime Labor Convention established in 2006," said Xu Zuyuan, vice-minister of transport, at the second China Seafarer Conference hosted in Shanghai.

The Danish EU Presidency has conducted the negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament that have now resulted in an agreement to amend the EU directive on the minimum level of training of seafarers.

Initial results of the first major survey undertaken by Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) into the experiences of seafarers facing criminal charges have thrown up worrying claims that seafarers are subjected to unfair treatment and feel intimidated by policing authorities around the world, and that they are not provided legal representation and interpretation services when needed.

Piracy will be high on the high on the agenda of the ITF's (International Transport Workers' Federation) 2012 Asia Pacific Seafarers and Fisheries committee). Seafarer trade unionists from across the Asia-Pacific region will meet in Jakarta from 11-14 June to discuss plans on piracy, cabotage, and improving standards for fisheries workers.

The campaign for minimum international pay and standards for seafarers attracted media coverage in Australia after ITF convenor Dean Summers led an inspection team on board the Russian-owned, Malta-flagged bulk carrier MV Doris while it was unloading cargo in Sydney.