Nautilus International's round the clock service for members, Nautilus 24/7, has released new figures that demonstrate the benefits of Union membership, particularly for yacht crew, who faced a slew of unpaid wages and unfair dismissal cases in 2024.
Yacht crew accounted for 76.5% of all calls to the emergency helpline for Union members in 2024 where vessel type was known, slightly down from 81% in 2023. Of the 521 new cases, 189 were from yacht crew. Nearly 67% of all marine incidents reported to the helpline were also raised by yacht crew − highlighting the importance of Union membership for all ranks in that sector.
The most reported issues raised by yacht crew were unfair dismissal (40 cases); issues related to wages/salary payment (38 cases); repatriation (14 cases); and 12 calls reporting abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination and/or violence (ABHDV). Enquiries on how to become a Union member accounted for nearly 3% of the 787 yacht callers.
Given the high number of yacht callers, the Nautilus 24/7 helpline's most-complained-about issue for all seafarers' calls and messages (1029) in 2024 was also wages, with 26% of all callers complaining of either unpaid and/or delayed wages. Just over 23% called about unfair dismissal.
Not all callers to the emergency hotline were members, however, such as one from crew complaining of abandonment. Non-members are advised to join before any potential issues arise.
The total calls and messages includes the 521 new cases and the 508 successive cases (follow up activities). In 2024, there was a slight (2%) decrease in the total number of new cases handled by the service – 521, down from 534 in 2023, but still up overall from 519 in 2022. The number of follow-up activities dropped to 508 in 2024 from 559 in 2023 and 620 in 2022 − possibly indicating the successfulness of case handling on the first contact.
Female callers accounted for 20% of all callers to Nautilus 24/7, a 32% increase on 2023, showing a promising awareness of the hotline among female members.
The Nautilus 24/7 service, which was set up in 2014, is available using various contact methods including toll free calls globally, live chat, and emails. Contact details are available on the N24/7 hub.
Nautilus director of legal services Charles Boyle said: 'This indeed shows the value of Nautilus membership, facilitating a 24/7/365 multi-lingual helpline for our members, wherever they are. It is vital that our members can talk to a dedicated and trained adviser immediately at the point of need.'
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