The yachting industry is gaining global recognition, transitioning from a relatively unknown industry to a mainstream career opportunity. We’ve created this essential beginner’s guide to help you decide if a career in yachting is right for you—it’s not “as seen on TV.”
A superyacht is defined as a yacht that is at least 24 meters (80 feet) long. Superyachts are synonymous with luxury and glamour, affording owners, charterers, and their guests the freedom to travel the world with complete privacy.
A private superyacht is typically a vessel controlled and operated for a beneficial owner and their family and friends.
A charter vessel is run as a business renting (or chartering) the vessel out to clients for use for a designated period of time. In 99% of cases, charter yachts also have a beneficial owner who also uses the vessel. When it is not being used chartering is a way to offset the cost of the vessel operation cost.
Working on a superyacht offers a unique working environment like no other. In recent years, various social media channels and TV shows have appeared, often showcasing the fun exciting side of yachting. While this can be true, yachting is also an extremely professional industry with lots of rules and regulations that must be strictly followed.
In the past, working one or two seasons as a 'working holiday' was normal, and can be a possibility for the junior crew.
However, vessels are becoming increasingly larger, with stricter regulations being enforced. Yachts are looking for prospective crew members with a good land-based work history, who are genuinely looking to make yachting a career. Yachting is a fantastic career, not only will you see the world, it can also provide you amazing opportunities that a land-based role cannot.
Captain, officers, and deck Crew – The bridge/wheelhouse on a yacht is where the captain and officers operate the yacht, in some cases on smaller yachts, the captain may also use the bridge as an office during the normal working day. The number of officers employed on a vessel will vary depending on the yachts's size and opertaion with their roles change accordingly. Generally, the officers work with the captain to ensure the safe and effective operation of the vessel while complying with regulations and requirements set out by law.
The deck crew may consist of a bosun and deckhands and is essentially in charge of the outside of the vessel, water sports, and assisting, when required, the captain and officers in the vessel's operation. It is not uncommon for some deck crew to have specialized roles, such as deck/carpenter or deck/fitness instructor.
Typical deck crew duties may involve:
Engineering – The engineers of a vessel operate and maintain the ship's machinery and all other essential equipment onboard. Their typical working day can include a range of tasks, such as following the vessel's planned maintenance schedule, repairing equipment, ensuring the internet is operational for guests, and producing potable water using the ship's desalination equipment. With this department, the list goes on and on.
The galley – The chef on board a vessel is responsible for preparing fresh and daily-changing meals for both the guests and the crew. The number of chefs on board will vary depending on the size of the vessel. One major difference between a restaurant chef and a yacht chef is the yacht chef takes on additional roles a land-based chef may never have done or performed. These may include pot washing and galley deep cleaning, managing galley accounts, provisioning, and sourcing food as the vessel continuously travels.
The interior – The interior crew on board has a several main roles and then additional roles as the vessel increases in size.
The main roles of the interior team are to:
As a steward(ess) progresses in their career, they will be given additional management responsibilities, eventually progressing to the level of Purser. As a Purser their role may be predominantly office-based. This could include accountancy, provisioning, itineraries as well as organising the captain's and vessel's administration.
In addition to these roles, some interior crew may be hired due to additional skills and qualifications they have this could include Spa services, fitness and yoga instructors, nurses/paramedics, and Tutor/ Au pairs.
It is generally considered by people not in the yachting industry that superyachts travel between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. In some cases, this is true, but in reality, yachts travel all over the world to incredible destinations. These could include French Polynesia, Mexico, Antarctica, Alaska, The Northwest Passage, Norwegian Fjords, and Southeast Asia. This list is endless.
In general, excluding temporary crew, there are three types of employment contracts aboard yachts.
Seasonal – This is when a vessel only operates for a single season. For example the vessel will operate in the Summer over in Mediterranean for the season. After spending the winter season in a location without guest use. It is normal for these vessels to hire extra crew for the season and drop down to a reduced the crew size for the off-season period – a seasonal contract (In yachting employment contracts are called Seafarers' Employment Agreements sometimes shortened to SEA) will be for a designated period.
Permanent – This is when a crew member is employed all year by the vessel and their only time off the vessel will be their annual leave.
Rotational – This is where you work for a specified amount of days and then get a specified amount of days off, usually days off are also paid. The amount of time can vary but full rotation is usually 2 months on / 2 months off and is usually awarded to senior crewmembers with lots of experience. Some larger vessels offer rotations to more junior crew such as 3 months on / 1 month off.
This is sometimes forgotten about but is a huge part of the yachting industry both during the preparations for a season and during the season for various reasons.
A day worker is just that a person who arrives on the vessel in the morning and leaves in the evening. All departments on a yacht use day workers and they generally perform tasks that the regular crew of the vessel may not have the time to do. It is by far the best way to gain experience and grow your network of contacts as a green crew member. For this type of work, you are normally paid daily but if you have multiple days on the same vessel, you may get paid weekly.
Temporary contracts differ from day work as they are normally filled by more experienced crew and could be for various reasons such as the regular crewmember is sick, has a commitment they cannot change or the position is vacant and the vessel is waiting until a suitable candidate is found.
The MLC (maritime and Labor Convention) 2006 stipulates the limits on hours of work or rest shall be as follows:
Maximum hours of work shall not exceed:
14 hours in any 24 hours
72 hours in any seven days
Or
Minimum hours of rest shall not be less than:
10 hours in any 24 hours
77 hours in any seven-day period
Yes, if you have a Seasonal, Permanent, or Rotational position you will accrue holidays as you work onboard. The number of days you will get will be stipulated in your Seafarers Employment Agreement (SEA).
Days off are slightly different when working on a superyacht, you may be lucky enough to get regular days off but during a season this is highly unlikely. Yachts are extremely busy workplaces and regularly have short turnarounds between trips with lots of tasks needing to be completed before the next trip commences. It is not unusual for yacht crew to not have a day off for weeks or in some cases months with some busier charter vessels often going whole seasons without any downtime.
This is a very hard question to answer as yachting is not for everyone. It is a physically and mentally demanding industry with individuals often performing mundane tasks repeatedly while living and working in small confined places with people of multiple nationalities and backgrounds. Some of the things newer crewmembers struggle with include:
If they have relevance to yachting then yes, if you are a Pilates instructor, carpenter, plumber, diving instructor, or many other roles they can not only be used they can help get your CV to the top of a pile for Captains and recruiters. Sometimes you may even get a better salary or package.
There is now a vast array of courses to get you into yachting. If you have done these courses then great but the essential entry courses are:
ENG1 – while this is not a course but a medical it should always be step 1, find an approved doctor local to you and get this before anything else – if you cannot medically pass this then chances are yachting is not going to be for you unfortunately
STCW95 – This is often sold as one course but it covers 4 subjects:
Some positions onboard will require other qualifications even for entry-level roles.
You may have heard people talking about yachting hubs – this simply means where there is a lot of superyacht activity. Here are the main locations:
A crew house is similar to a hostel. But it's a place where everyone stays for the same purpose - to find a superyacht job. Like hostels, it's usually a shared environment. With two or more people sharing a room and bathrooms. It can be a more cost-effective option when first arriving in a yachting hub. It's also a great place to network, with your hosts often having great connections to the local yachts.
First of all, a soft foldable bag is essential – not a solid suitcase as boast generally will not have space to store these,
Storage space onboard a yacht is limited in crew cabins you should pack light and bring the basics that you need such as:
Yes, yachting is a fantastic career!
Yachting is a unique industry that has an unusual working environment with a combination of high guest expectations and long working hours. You are living and working in a small area with multiple other crewmembers of different backgrounds and nationalities which can at times be challenging.
So needless to say this is not the industry for everyone but in our opinion the perks far out way the negatives. Yacht Crew has the opportunity to:
In short, you get out what you put into yachting, some people who are driven, motivated, and complete course after course when time allows then get promoted accordingly do exceptionally well and have incredibly successful careers. Then some crewmembers put in minimum effort, just do enough and don’t invest time and money into their career development simply don’t do so well.
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