Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Management on Superyachts

Dr Emma Gillett of Sea Feedback Reviewing a recent article by Nick Humphreys of Penningtons Manches Cooper Published on 21-7-23

https://www.onboardonline.com/superyacht-news/legal-and-finance/bullying-harassment-and-discrimination-management-on-superyachts/

In this article Nick brought forth some recent research on the first quarter of 2023 from the international Seafarers Welfare Assistance Network which showed a continued upward trend quarter on quarter of abuse, bullying, harassment and discrimination and the specific area of the entire maritime industry that came out on top for the largest rise was the Yacht Crew Sector with a massive 125% increase.

There is a hypothesis put forward that there is now more reporting of these incidents seeing as Crew have recently been given facility to report which was previously unavailable.

I would agree. It is not simply that Yacht Crew are beginning to suffer more, it is that the problem has been there for an extraordinary amount of time and the industry has turned a blind eye until it is now forced to act due to its current and increasing visibility.

There are other compounding factors at play in that the Industry is increasing in size and has become a notional choice of career after watching a few episodes of below deck and that our young crew do not align well with the previous mantra every Yachtie has heard of “put up, shut up or get off”. “You are just a phone call away from being replaced!”

Crew expectations are that they are protected by law and we need to make sure that they are.

Where is the industry going so wrong?

The maritime industry as a whole lacks coherent regulation. And for Yacht Crew it is almost non existent. We lack credible and effective regulation and that leaves every member of Crew vulnerable. We also lack complete and dedicated educational pathways for every crew member onboard and this leads to a lopsided understanding of competency and value for every department. We do not teach management or leadership until it is too late and wonder why we struggle with appalling levels of dysfunctional behaviours onboard.

There is no longer an excuse. If you are an owner and you wish to make sure that your Yacht is not opening itself up for these abuses of Crew and exposing you to visible court cases you must act. Management and Captains can no longer afford such sycophancy as to make the regulations void.

The Industry now has answers. It has answers in the form of Impact Crew, ISWAN and unions such as Nautilus to aid Crew in getting through difficult and sometimes dangerous times. But we must act to decrease this dysfunction onboard directly.

In this article I go into greater depth on my understanding of the issues.

https://quaynote.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Emma-Gillett-Article1.pdf

This is a cultural issue and as such requires some absolutes to change. Although the MLC states a number of protective measures and a number of policies to be in place, they are not working. Our entire system of governance is not working. And without intervention it will continue to Not Work. We will continue to see the problems for Crew and many will be forced to quit, struggle to pick up the pieces or worse.

Having worked as Crew for three seasons and having witnessed the absolute dire nature of the Industry from the inside as a crew member in my 50’s, bringing with me my knowledge base from higher education and highly regulated professionalism I was shocked. But out of deeply disturbing times can come very positive changes and I walked away knowing changes could be made.

Sea Feedback is a company that is there to create, develop and sustain a regulated professional body of individuals onboard. It gives Crew a voice and it wants Crew to speak up daily. A tool onboard that literally is listening to Crew voices.

If you want your regulations to work you must create an environment where they have to work, where there is no other option. And from this I can also imagine there will be so many Captains who will be relieved to see suddenly those regulations also have their backs.

Change the educational pathways and include every crew member.
Teach management and leadership skills from day one onboard.
Mentor over long periods.
Create lived experience rather than rely on paper certificates.
And bind a community of people in a safe space for them to learn and grow.

Both Crew Solutions and Sea Feedback approach Crew problems and are an outside in approach. To see change will take us time as begin to alter what we expect and what we deliver for Crew. But we now have the tools to make the difference.

Listen to your Yacht through the Crew. They will tell you all you need to know.