Legal webinar: how yacht professionals can protect themselves after an incident at sea

When disaster strikes, yacht crew need to ensure they are protected legally – but what can they do to prepare? Nautilus director of legal services Charles Boyle spoke to Rob Coston about how Union membership can help

ROB COSTON (RC): In August 2024, the UK-flagged superyacht Bayesian sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily with the loss of seven lives, and now three crew have been placed under investigation by Italian authorities. There are multiple other investigations, including by the UK MCA, the UK MAIB, and a coroner’s court – plus the possibility of future civil cases. With such a complex situation, I suppose the first thing to say is that we shouldn’t rush to judgement?

CHARLES BOYLE (CB): That's correct. The court of public opinion and the press are often quick to blame seafarers before the full facts have been disclosed, or speculate that accidents might be due to human element failure. Nautilus is always at the forefront of fighting for seafarers’ rights and against criminalisation, and one of those tenets is to urge people to wait until due process is carried out and the full facts are known.

RC: This is, of course, the worst nightmare situation – but yacht professionals need legal representation in all kinds of circumstances. What are some common issues you see?

CB: Over the years, we've had collisions, groundings, pollution incidents, anchoring infringements, fatal accidents, dangerous conditions exposed during Port State Control inspections leading to regulatory action – all of these can lead to the types of investigations that we want to talk about today. All of these types of incidents can happen within the yachting sector.

RC: As in this case, yacht professionals can face or be asked to assist various kinds of investigators. Who are they?

CB: One is the state authorities, including organisations like the safety investigator. They’ll interview seafarers, look at data recording devices, draft a report and highlight the causes of the accident and make recommendations to improve safety in the future.

Especially the UK, talking to the MAIB [Marine Accident Investigation Branch] is relatively safe because the statements given by seafarers to those authorities are protected by statute. They cannot be disclosed to any other body without an application being made by that body to the court. This is because if statements were generally disclosed, that could discourage people from talking openly about what happened and have an impact on safety. Having said that, seafarers should always make sure that they check the local laws or regulations connected with that safety regulator’s powers before taking part in any interview.

The next type of interview would be by the flag state authority. This is more serious because their job is to bring prosecutions if they believe laws have been broken, so when a seafarer is invited for an interview they really, really need to take legal advice.

Be aware if the interview going to be under caution, and what that means in the relevant country. It’s best to take advice from the lawyer who's representing you at the interview as to whether to actually answer questions or give a no comment interview, and possibly consider giving what's called a prepared statement, which can be done in your own time and gives your own version of events.

Another type of interview is by the police, usually if it's a near shore incident, and obviously they have prosecution powers as well.

The other group of organisations that might conduct investigations and interview seafarers include shipowners, P&I, insurance companies and employers. In these cases, Nautilus members should contact our industrial department to ensure they are protected because they can get representation in any resulting disciplinary proceedings.

RC: Should seafarers feel that they need to get involved in a civil investigation?

CB: Many seafarers have come to me and said that they've had in an invitation to give evidence by a lawyer acting on behalf of a party. For instance, if one shipowner is suing another for a collision, seafarers who were onboard at the time may be invited by independent law firms acting for one of the parties to give evidence in civil proceedings.

I often try to find out what their own feelings are about getting involved. For instance, someone might want to get involved because they think it might help their colleagues onboard or other seafarers. But if there's no benefit for that seafarer to get involved then they may choose not to, because once they make a statement, even in civil proceedings, then there's no guarantee that this might not lead to them getting involved in other sort of proceedings as well and they may well be asked to appear in court.

So it's really a matter of a personal choice. However, this brings to the forefront the issue of whether, when a seafarer is invited for an interview, they are obliged through statute or court order to take part, or to report particular incidents. For instance, seafarers should be aware of the types of accidents they need to report to the safety regulator, because it's an offence not to. Of course, you can come to Nautilus and ask these questions.

RC: What kind of help are Nautilus members in the yacht sector entitled to?

CB: Seafarers are contacting us almost on a weekly basis now because they've been involved in maritime incidents, whether that's pollution, collisions, breach of the Colregs [international collision regulations], anchoring infringements – it’s becoming a common occurrence.

The first thing a seafarer should do is to contact Nautilus. We're here during European office hours, and outside of that we've got the Nautilus 24/7 helpline for urgent advice. Where appropriate I will then be called in and I can advise the seafarer accordingly or arrange legal representation in the appropriate jurisdiction.

Getting a local lawyer this way is very important: they can give advice that will help a seafarer do their best at any interview, and that might make the difference between being charged with a criminal offence and not being charged. However, even if they are charged, the Nautilus Legal Defence Fund is there to support them throughout the proceedings.

It's worth reminding people that it makes good sense to be a member of Nautilus because they then have certificate protection. If a member's certificate is cancelled following an investigation, then Nautilus can pay any loss in wages for a period of up to 18 months, up to a maximum of £146,000.