Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 designed to protect abandoned seafarers are due to enter into force in early 2017. Some insurance intermediaries and commentators are predicting that the International Group (IG) of protection-and-indemnity (P&I) clubs could, and perhaps should, provide the necessary cover to enable shipowners to meet their enhanced MLC obligations. But, contrary to the impression circulating in some parts of the market, this is anything but a done deal.