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Superyachts: professionalism, manpower and training

There is a large regulatory difference between commercial and privately operated yachts. Budgets vary considerably even between similar sized yachts, which not only impacts salaries but also the safety emphasis on equipment and crew training. Employment across a fleet is rare, which tends to lead to limited promotion prospects. Even on the same yacht, employment patterns can vary between short seasonal jobs and permanent long periods. Low job security/high crew turnover is more typical than not, and in these cases operational knowledge is often lost.

Crew hiring decisions are generally made by the Captain, with the owner/management involved only for more senior positions. While there are a number of specialized yacht crew placement agencies, very few are staffed by Human Resources (HR) trained professionals. A large number of yacht positions are now advertised on the internet, potentially by-passing crew agencies, and competition for places is fierce. There is little ethnic and cultural diversity in yacht crews compared with general shipping.

(Adapted from: Seaways, 2018)