Finding yacht crew: how agencies work and what owners pay
Crew agencies are regulated under Maritime Labour Convention rules, and what an owner pays is a separate question from what a crew member may be charged.
Crew placement is the service of finding, vetting and introducing seafarers to a yacht that needs them. The Maritime Labour Convention regulates recruitment and placement services directly, and it states who pays for the service. WhichFlagToFly sets out how agencies operate, what the Convention requires of them, what the market publishes about fees, and what independent trade reporting says about crew turnover.
How do superyacht crew agencies work?Link to this section
Under the Maritime Labour Convention, a recruitment and placement service whose main purpose is finding and placing seafarers, or which places a meaningful number of them, has to operate under a system of licensing, certification or other regulation in the state where it is established. The Convention also states that a seafarer is entitled to access recruitment and placement without being charged for it, and that the costs of finding work sit with the employer, not the seafarer. A reputable agency invoices the yacht, not the crew member it is placing.
Does the yacht's own MLC compliance affect a placement?Link to this section
An agency placing crew on a commercial yacht also has to work within that yacht's own Maritime Labour Convention compliance position, since the vessel's declaration of compliance and its inspection record shape what documentation a placement needs to carry. Malta's position on MLC compliance: Maritime Labour Convention inspection applies to every commercial yacht; at 500 GT and over a Recognised Organisation issues the certificate and Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance, with reports copied to Malta.Commercial Yacht Code (CYC) 2025, Revision 1, Merchant Shipping Directorate, Transport Maltawww.transport.gov.mt (web.archive.org) · §13.8.1Retrieved 2026-09-06Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. Cayman's, under the Red Ensign Group Yacht Code: Every Cayman yacht engaged in trade must comply with the Maritime Labour Convention; at 500 GT and over the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry inspects and issues the Maritime Labour Certificate and Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance Part I.Yachtmaster's Handbook, Yachts engaged in trade 24m and over, September 2018 (TCOMAYMH Rev 02/18), Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands / Cayman Islands Shipping Registrywww.cishipping.com · §2Retrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. The Isle of Man's: The Isle of Man inspects every commercial yacht for MLC itself and issues both DMLC parts, with a full certificate at 500 GT and over and a letter below it.Maritime Labour Notice MLN 5.1.3 / 5.1.4 (Rev 3), Inspection, Certification & Definitions, issued 29 May 2020, Isle of Man Ship Registrywww.iomshipregistry.com · §3.3Retrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. An agency that places crew across multiple flags has to track this separately for each vessel it works with.
How much do yacht crew agencies charge owners?Link to this section
A placement fee is charged to the employer, never to the seafarer, and follows a small number of recognizable shapes. The positions below are market norms that do not vary by flag, each with its own currency and source. A rate for a named vacancy belongs in a quotation from the agency rather than in a general comparison.
| What is charged | Published market position |
|---|---|
| Placement fee | Crew agencies charge the yacht, not the crew member: typically about one month's gross salary for a permanent placement and 20 percent of earnings for temporary work.Northrop and Johnson Crew Services - Terms and Conditions (2023)cdn.northropandjohnson.com · FeesRetrieved 2026-09-01Corroborating source, not the register's own publicationOpen sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| Payroll administration | Crew agencies commonly offer payroll administration as an add-on to placement, usually bundled with MLC-compliant employment contracts, tax withholding and visas.Fraser - Yacht Crew Recruitment (The Crew Network)www.fraseryachts.comRetrieved 2026-09-01Corroborating source, not the register's own publicationOpen sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| Notice and replacement terms | Agencies typically guarantee a free replacement if a permanent crew member leaves within 60 to 90 days, with the leading houses extending that to 180 days.Northrop and Johnson Crew Services - Terms and Conditions (2023)cdn.northropandjohnson.com · Replacement guaranteeRetrieved 2026-09-01Corroborating source, not the register's own publicationOpen sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Why do junior crew leave, and what does turnover cost you?Link to this section
Crew turnover is one of the more measurable costs of getting placement wrong, and one of the few independent data points on it comes from a 2025 Quay Group survey of 100 captains, reported by Megayacht News. The survey found that the average annual turnover rate among new crew joining as deckhands and junior interior crew runs to roughly a third, and that close to half of the yachts surveyed see even higher turnover than that among their newest crew. Junior positions turn over far faster than senior ones, so an agency's screening and a realistic brief on both sides matter most for junior roles.
Placement or payroll: which do you need?Link to this section
A placement fee covers finding and vetting a crew member; it does not cover employing and paying them once aboard. See crew employment and payroll for how that side of the relationship works, and yacht management for how placement usually sits alongside a wider management relationship.
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