In order to cover situations arising from working at sea as a result of the circumstances present in maritime and fishing work:
 
The situations that can be protected are as follows:

• The loss of personal equipment due to a shipwreck or accident at sea.

• On-board death or disappearance.

• Transportation of dead bodies.

The Social Marine Institute has been covering these situations through annual applications for financial welfare grants within the scope of government subsidies. The publication of Royal Decree 869/2007, of 2 July, governs the awarding of these grants as welfare benefits from the Special Social Security Scheme for Sea Workers.

The beneficiaries of the Welfare Benefits are:
 
A) Sea workers included in the scope of application Special Social Security Scheme for Sea Workers.

B) Family members and those persons assimilated as family members by the following order:

• The spouse or relatives by blood, affinity or adoption up to the second degree inclusive, who live with the workers and are their dependent, except when the fact that they are not cohabiting, in the case of children, arises from a court ruling of divorce or separation.
• Persons who, although they are not their spouse, have a relationship of a similar standing and are a dependent cohabiting partner. In order to be a beneficiary of these grants they must prove a minimum of one year of uninterrupted cohabitation.
• The beneficiaries included in the foregoing sections following the death of the entitlement holder and by the stipulated order.

• Be affiliated or in a situation assimilated to affiliation in the Social Security Special Scheme for Sea Workers, during the occurrence of the contingency or protected situation, without prejudice to the provisions of article 40.4 of the revised text of Laws 116/1969, of 30 December and 24/1972, of 21 June, which governs the Social Security Special Scheme for Sea Workers.

• Prove that they are currently in one of the protected situations.
   
  

Applications must be submitted at the Provincial Directorates or Local Offices of the Social Marine Institute, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 38.4 of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, on the Legal Framework for Public Administration and Common Administrative Procedure, in accordance with the form published in the Employment and Social Security Order (TASS) 29/2008, of 15 January.

Financial welfare grants are intended for sea workers, their beneficiaries and pensioners, and have been created to deal with all of the situations which, on their own, do not give entitlement to Social Security benefits, or if the situations do give said entitlement, the granted benefits do not cover the full amount of the incurred costs.

They are decided by an annual call for applications in accordance with Work and Social Affairs (TAS Order 4218/2005), of 29 December, on regulatory bases (Official State Gazette B.O.E. number 9, of 11 January 2006) and the Autonomous Communities, to which the responsibilities for social services matters have been transferred, are excluded from their scope of application.
 
Financial welfare grants are awarded to cover to the following situations of need, arising from a lack of financial resources caused by illnesses, having no relatives, deficiencies or any other cause that requires, as a result, financial assistance for social integration and socio-economic stability:

• Persons in a situation of financial insecurity.
• Mentally ill persons requiring hospital care.
• Drug addicts and drug-dependent persons requiring admission for rehabilitation.
• Persons with special educational needs.
  

The beneficiaries of financial welfare grants are as follows:

• Sea workers who fall within the scope of application of the Special Social Security Scheme for Sea Workers and other assimilated workers, as well as pensioners included in said Scheme. For the purposes of this call for applications, the fact that the worker is not affiliated or in a situation assimilated to affiliation in the aforementioned Scheme will be of no importance, as long as they have proven their link to this Scheme, through the following circumstances:
  
  
  • Periods of work in the aforementioned Special Scheme.
  • Registration as a job seeker in the maritime sector.
  • Has no entitlement to unemployment benefits, or has used up all these benefits.
  
  
• The spouse or relatives by blood, affinity or adoption up to the second degree inclusive, who live with the workers and are their dependent, except when the fact that they are not cohabiting, in the case of children, arises from a court ruling of divorce or separation.
  
  
• Persons who, although they are not their spouse, have a relationship of a similar standing and are a dependent cohabiting partner. In order to be a beneficiary of these grants they must prove a minimum of one year of uninterrupted cohabitation.
  
  
• The beneficiaries described in the foregoing sections following the death of the entitlement holder, as long as it is confirmed that they lived with and were financially dependent on the deceased, except when the fact that they are not cohabiting, in the case of children, arises from a court ruling of divorce or separation.

• Prove that they are currently in one of the protected situations.
• The beneficiary lacks sufficient resources to cover for themselves, or their cohabiting dependents, the costs arising from the situation they find themselves in, without prejudice to their socio-economic situation.
• Shipowners, self-employed workers and those persons who make contributions through a special agreement, must prove that they are up-to-date with their obligations to the Social Security.
• In the event of not being affiliated or in a situation assimilated to affiliation, proof of having covered a minimum contribution period of 180 days in the 5 years prior to the application.

For the grant to be secured by the applicant, in addition to meeting the requirements set out in the foregoing sections, it will also be necessary to receive a favourable social assessment that deems them eligible for the credits allocated for this purpose.

Applications must be submitted at the Provincial Directorates or Local Offices of the Social Marine Institute, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 38.4 of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, on the Legal Framework for Public Administration and Common Administrative Procedure.

Given that it is an open call for applications with several selection and decision processes during the year, the final annual deadline for submitting applications is the last working day of October of the current year.