When The Triton led a panel discussion in February on the availability of crew in a growing megayacht industry, we committed to continuing the conversation.

We hosted our March Connection seminar on that topic to more thoroughly examine the issues important to crew.

Though the turnout was small – about 25 people – we had a mixture of captains, crew, placement agents, trainers and other professionals. The conversation, too, was a mixture of problems, complaints and possible solutions.

This first seminar was dedicated to identifying the key problems facing megayacht crew. While this report may sound like a lot of complaints, it is critical to properly identify the problems before setting out to help solve them.

In no particular order, here are the problems attendees of The Triton’s March Connection identified:

1. Health insurance. While all yachts carry insurance that covers crew members for the "maintenance and cure" of accidents and emergencies when working onboard, many crew are left uncovered for such accidents off the boat. And few have the kind of preventative care that many American employees in land-based jobs enjoy, such as annual check-ups or dental exams.

The problem, Connection attendees said, is that insurance companies are unwilling to underwrite this kind of wrap-around insurance that would cover a crew member for preventative health care as well as for non-work-related accidents.

Depending on the yacht, some crew members are covered under the corporate insurance of a yacht’s owner who simply slides them in as a corporate employee. Many others, though, work for retired owners who can no longer offer that benefit. Each yacht handles this benefit differently, with some paying all, a portion, or none of the monthly premiums.

With better health care benefits, attendees agreed, more crew might view the job as a career and stay with boats or the industry longer, a first step in curing the crew shortage problem.

The Triton’s April Connection seminar was scheduled to discuss crew health insurance. Admission is free on April 27 from 5-7 p.m. in the third-floor conference room at Bahia Mar Yachting Center, or watch for a report in the June issue of The Triton.

’s April Connection seminar was scheduled to discuss crew health insurance. Admission is free on April 27 from 5-7 p.m. in the third-floor conference room at Bahia Mar Yachting Center, or watch for a report in the June issue of The Triton.

2. Burnout. While many crew members sign up for and happily accept the rigorous schedule of seasonal charters around the world (and the tips that accompany them), it doesn’t take long for those seasons to wear a person out. Too often, crew leave the industry just as they are reaching levels of leadership and sterling credentials.

Many of the crew in attendance thought that rotations or job sharing were a good idea, especially for upper-level officers. Not only would that allow a family life as well as a career, it would give entry-level crew a goal to work toward.

The solution of rotations isn’t easy to implement, though. Owners expect and appreciate a consistency of service from their captain, chief stewardess and chef. They want the person they have come to trust – and only that person – to give them the service they expect.

Attendees agreed that convincing owners to split a year between two captains, two chief stewardesses and two chefs would mean less crew turnover in the long run and, eventually, better consistency of service.

"Owners don’t realize how hard it is to find good crew and how much time it takes," one placement agent said.

3. Attitude. There was much discussion about the attitude among entry-level crew who want the glamourous life they’ve heard about at the neighborhood watering hole but who aren’t quite willing to work hard to get it.

"They go out and get drunk, come to work late, so you fire them, but they don’t care. They just go to the next boat and get another job three days later," one captain said. "You end up tolerating way more than you want to."

The problem is that some entry-level crew see the yachting industry as a way to spend the summer instead of as a career. While there is room in the industry for seasonal employees, it makes the job of hiring and training new crew a dreaded experience.

"I always want to go back to the agency and say this crew is horrible," a captain said. "All the crew agents need to be on the same page."

4. Training. Or, more precisely, the lack of training support made available to working, career-minded crew, both in dollars and time off.

More often than not, an owner will not foot the bill for an entry-level crew member to receive training, or for a mid-career officer to get advanced training.

Some yachts have adopted reimbursement plans that pay for some of the training with the remainder being reimbursed if the crew member stays onboard a certain length of time.

Yet the problem often is one of time. Busy charter yachts, or even well-used private yachts, run or are in maintenance a majority of the time, leaving crew little time for their own vacations, let alone training. Often, crew members fill their vacation with training, or they quit to stay shoreside and take courses.

5. Standards. Or, more precisely, a lack of industry-wide standards for operating and maintaining vessels.

While many yachts and captains have their own levels of standards, there is no set of industry-wide standards that crew could learn or train toward before coming on board. A set of standards would also raise the level of operation on the vessels that operate below them.

Other issues facing crew as the megayacht industry continues to grow included the industry’s lack of employment manuals and contracts, the need for basic yachting education for brokers and owners, the need for management training for captains, and the need for an awareness and recruiting campaign to the general population that presents yachting as a career.

Several attendees suggested that yacht management companies and the management divisions of large brokerages have taken the lead on many of these issues. But because they tend to operate in the vacuum of their fleets, the rest of the industry has yet to learn about – and learn from their examples.

The Triton is committed to continuing this conversation. Be a part of it.

is committed to continuing this conversation. Be a part of it.

Contact Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.