A few weeks ago, we did a re-run of our crew safety survey that we conducted at the start of the year, but with a few cheeky additions.

We added some extra demographics including size of vessel, as well as a free comment section for crew to be able to add in their own thoughts and opinions. We got over a hundred responses, so let's break this down to really delve into the insights from the results.

Looking at the demographics of the majority of those who took this survey, we could say that it's largely crew whom are working on yachts ranging from 30m - 50m, so typically with a smaller crew base, potentially performing multiple tasks such as deck/stew, stew/cook, deck/engo. Predominantly females took part in this survey, and the largest percentage of years of experience was around the 2-4 years mark.

If we consider the average respondent to this survey, a female crew member with 2–4 years of experience, working on a smaller vessel of around 30–50 metres, this becomes a truly staggering statistic. What makes it particularly concerning is that this behaviour isn’t coming from guests, where you might expect occasional lapses or unpredictable conduct, but from fellow crew members. In such close quarters, where colleagues are directly witnessing or even experiencing inappropriate sexual behaviour, the implications are deeply troubling.

Pair this average respondent with the below results, and we're really worried. I get that crew all live together, and in heightened environments full of pressure. But at the end of the day, these are not healthy statistics to have in a healthy work environment. Can you imagine if these results came out from your local restaurant at home, from your cooperate office or from your local school?

During this survey, we gave crew the opportunity to give their thoughts, comments and opinions on the survey, or anything they wanted to mention. Some of the comments were quite upsetting to read, and it really brings to light the need for something to change within the industry in terms of how safe the crew feel on board. We were unable to display the majority of what was shared due to signposting concerns as well as identifiable comments/ Here's a few extracts which feel important to bring to light:

"This is my first season. I work on a two crew catamaran as a deck stew. My captain is abusive. I am over worked, underpaid and if I ever bring up leaving, I get threatened that I will never be hired again in this industry because he says has the power to ruin my name. This threat alone has installed such fear into me that I do and take whatever he says. Every day I am told I am stupid, I am fat and I am incapable. My mental health has never been this low and I feel I can’t leave"

“Twice I’ve had to quit because if I reported the captain I would be fired. I started my complaint process and almost got fired and now I’m struggling to find a job. Just like he said I would, ‘coincidentally’ if I reported him.”

“I worked with someone who had a criminal record. Open about it and was still hired.”

It's no wonder that the crew who took part in this survey feel like the yachting industry isn't doing enough for crew, and these comments reveal a culture of silence, driven by fear of professional retaliation, with 71% of participants saying they choose not to report issues out of fear of professional consequences.

This brings us to CrewPass, and what we are striving for. We know that criminal history background checks arn't the fix, they're not the cure and they're not going to make those who have experienced hardship feel better. However, it's a step in the right direction.

Whether it comes from the employer, the management company or the recruiter, doing checks during the vetting process is one small step that could be added to make sure that crew feel like they're more protected. We not only check criminal history, but ensure certificates are real and in date, check ID as well as adverse media and global sanctions, for one transparent price at £199.

For anyone that's interesting in running checks on your crew or fleet, please get in touch today at info@crewpass.co.uk. You can pop one crew member through, test the platform and see if it's something you can fit into your workflow, or just grab a demo to see what you think of the platform.

For anyone that took part in our survey, and would like to talk further about the troubles you are facing at the moment, please don't forget about YachtCrewHelp.

YachtCrewHelp serves as the maritime industry's dedicated support network, providing 24/7 confidential assistance through multiple communication channels including phone, email, and WhatsApp messaging.

For those in need of assistance, I encourage crew to save these contact details:

Phone: Call +44 (0)20 3713 7273

Email: Send an email to help@yachtcrewhelp.org

Live chat: Connect with a member of the team in real-time at https://lnkd.in/e_BE9iQi

WhatsApp: Send a message to +44 7514 500153

Mobile app: Use the free mobile app to access the helpline and offline resources