Three weeks into a season, a senior crew member starts making comments about your body. It is framed as a joke. Other crew laugh, uncomfortably. You are twenty-two, on your first boat, in a shared cabin, five hundred miles from home, and you need this reference. You tell yourself it is not a big deal. It is a big deal, and there is a process.
Ordinary conflict versus harassment
Conflict is normal on a yacht. Tired people in a small space disagree about how the silver is stored. That is not harassment, and it is usually solved by a direct, calm, private conversation.
Bullying and harassment are different in kind, not degree:
- Bullying — repeated behaviour intended to humiliate, undermine or intimidate. Public belittling, impossible tasks set to fail, exclusion, threats about your job.
- Harassment — unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic (sex, race, religion, sexuality, age, disability) that violates dignity or creates a hostile environment.
- Sexual harassment — unwanted conduct of a sexual nature: comments, propositions, touching, images, persistent attention after refusal.
None of these require intent. "It was a joke" is not a defence.
The framework
MLC 2006 obliges vessels to provide crew with a decent working environment and an onboard complaints procedure that you can use without victimisation. The industry has additional guidance specifically addressing bullying and harassment at sea. In practice this means:
- Every crew member must be given a copy of the onboard complaints procedure.
- You may raise a complaint with your head of department, or escalate to the Captain.
- If the complaint concerns the Captain, or is not resolved aboard, it goes to the designated person ashore (DPA) or the company/management contact named in your paperwork.
- Beyond that, the flag state and, in port, the Port State Control authority can be approached. You can also seek advice from a seafarers' welfare organisation or a union.
- Retaliation against a crew member for making a complaint in good faith is itself a breach.
What to do
- If it is safe and you feel able, say clearly that the behaviour is unwelcome and must stop.
- Write it down. Date, time, what was said or done, who was present. Contemporaneous notes are the strongest evidence there is.
- Report it to your HOD, or to the Captain if the HOD is involved.
- Escalate to the DPA/management company if nothing changes.
- Keep your own copy of everything, off the vessel — email it to yourself.
Onboard Notes
- The power imbalance on a yacht is severe: your job, your bed, your food, your visa and your reference can all sit with the same person. That is precisely why the escalation routes exist outside the vessel.
- You do not need to be certain it "counts". Report it and let the procedure decide.
- If you witness it happening to someone else, you are a bystander with a voice. Silence is what allows it to continue.
- Assault is a crime, not an employment matter. Ask for the police.
- Find the complaints procedure and the DPA's name in your first week. Know them before you need them.