Tell me more…..

You will find that larger, well established yachts have contracts but across the industry on a whole, most do not. It is good to ask for one either way, however don’t rely heavily on a binding contract because your situation can change dramatically from one day to the next. It is a running joke that in an instant you can be fired and asked to leave a yacht just because an owner or guest doesn’t like something about you. Funnily enough, this is not much of an exaggeration of the truth. Yachting does not really enforce the governing body designed to protect crew from being exploited or sacked unfairly. The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and the International Labour Convention (ILO) are geared to protect crew’s rights within all different sectors of the industry. However, I am yet to hear of a story where a crew member has attempted to follow this route in order to get compensation for unfair dismissal. It is extremely important to know your rights though, as whilst most people in this situation would simply pick up their bags and move on you are entitled at the very least to a return ticket from where you first joined the vessel. For example if you find yourself asked to leave a vessel in Tunisia when you joined in France, they must by LAW pay for your return to that location. If not, you can get the vessel impounded by the local harbour authorities and they will be unable to leave until the manner is resolved.

The best thing you can do is talk to your captain and hope that he would rather pay you then have a fight on his hands. Also it is handy to find out the management company of the yacht because in most cases they pay your wages via a monthly budget not the captain.

For more information on the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and the ILO click here