ORCA

What ORCA does

ORCA Crew Services B.V. is a Dutch-headquartered maritime and offshore crewing company founded in 2017, operating from Middelburg, the Netherlands, with owned offices in Lithuania, Romania, Croatia, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, the Philippines, Latvia, and Suriname, and an employee base of 501 to 1,000. The company provides full-cycle crewing solutions — recruitment, certification verification, travel coordination, payroll, compliance, and ongoing performance monitoring — for vessel owners and operators in offshore energy, merchant marine, dredging, towage and workboats, shipbuilding and repair, and catering. Its three core services are Crew Services, Ship Management, and Wind Services, the last being a dedicated offshore wind staffing line covering installation, commissioning, maintenance, and cable works. Underlying technology is relatively lightweight: a self-serve digital job platform (orca-crew.lt) for candidate profile creation and vacancy browsing, cookie-based marketing analytics (Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insights Tag), and digital systems for tracking crew certifications, medical validity, and documentation across jurisdictions.

ORCA generates revenue through professional service fees and managed service contracts charged to vessel owners and operators for sourcing, deploying, and managing qualified maritime personnel, with additional revenue from ship management contracts and offshore wind staffing engagements. A separate revenue stream comes from in-house multi-country payroll administration across the Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Philippines, and Suriname, including social security, A1 certificates, taxation, and transparent reporting. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with fees determined by project scope, crew requirements, contract duration, and geographic scope. The go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales via regional consultants, a global recruitment partner network of maritime agencies and manning agents, maritime academy partnerships for cadet pipeline development, and a self-serve direct-to-consumer channel for seafarers via orca-crew.lt. Marketing relies on content publishing, industry events such as OEEC 2026, social media presence, and prominently displayed third-party certifications (Achilles, Bureau Veritas, DNV, ISO 9001, ISO 45001, MLC 2006, NEN 4400-1, PayOK) as trust signals.

The company is a private limited company (B.V.) under Dutch law with no disclosed parent, institutional investors, or venture capital backing, and is led by CEO Rob Vermeulen. Ownership appears to be founder- and management-held, though specifics are not stated. Only one enterprise customer — Sodexo, for offshore catering personnel — is named in the available material.

Name

ORCA

Legal name

Orca Crew Services B.V.

Website

https://orca-crew.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

ORCA Crew Services is a Dutch maritime and offshore crewing company providing full-cycle recruitment, payroll, ship management, and offshore wind staffing for vessel owners and operators, operating from nine owned offices across Europe, the Philippines, and South America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Crewing and Recruitment Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883)

SIC

Services-Help Supply Services (7363)

akta.pro primary industry

Vessel Husbandry & Crew Services (Crew Change, Meet & Assist, Transport, Shore Passes) (TLAHAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Offshore/Remote Port Call & Anchorage Services (Launch Boats, Crew Boats, Supply Runs) (TLAHAJAM)

Keywords

• Maritime crew management
• Offshore recruitment services
• Ship management staffing
• Offshore wind crewing
• Seafarer payroll administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Middelburg

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Crewing & Recruitment Services: ORCA provides full-cycle crewing solutions covering recruitment, certification checks, travel coordination, payroll, compliance, and continuous performance monitoring for offshore, merchant, dredging, and renewable energy sectors. Revenue is generated through professional service fees charged to vessel owners and operators for sourcing and managing qualified maritime personnel.
2. Ship Management Services: ORCA delivers technical, commercial, and crew management solutions including maintenance planning, inspections, procurement, budgeting, reporting, safety compliance, and operational support. Revenue is generated through managed service contracts with vessel owners.
3. Offshore Wind Services: ORCA provides staffing for offshore wind installation, commissioning, maintenance, cable works, and project logistics. Revenue derives from staffing and workforce solutions contracts with wind farm developers and operators.
4. Payroll Administration: ORCA manages multi-country payroll operations including social security contributions, A1 certificates, taxation, benefits, and transparent reporting — charging service fees for payroll processing and compliance administration.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ORCA provides full-cycle crewing and recruitment services for the maritime, offshore, workboat, and dredging industries. Its offerings cover crew sourcing, recruitment, ship management, offshore wind crewing, crew request fulfillment, recruitment partnership programs, and multi-jurisdiction payroll administration for seafarers and offshore personnel.

Product overview

ORCA Crew Services is a maritime and offshore crewing services company offering three core services: Crew Services, Ship Management, and Wind Services. These services are delivered through a combination of owned international recruitment offices, in-house payroll departments, and a global partner network. The Crew Services product provides full-cycle crewing solutions covering recruitment, certification checks, travel coordination, payroll, compliance, and performance monitoring. Ship Management delivers technical, commercial, and crew management for vessel owners. Wind Services specializes in staffing for offshore wind projects. Additional service modules include a Recruitment Partnership Program for partner organizations, a structured Recruitment Process for candidate evaluation, and Payroll Solutions managing national payrolls across multiple countries. ORCA operates offices across Europe, Asia, and South America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Crew Services

Quantifiable outcome

• ORCA provides fully integrated solutions covering crewing, ship management, wind services, and staffing support — ensuring safe and efficient vessel operations across global maritime sectors.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Maritime Recruitment AgenciescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorORCA operates a global recruitment partner network consisting of maritime recruitment agencies and manning agents. Partners supply certified seafarers and offshore specialists to ORCA's clients, submitting candidate profiles against ORCA's vacancy requirements. The partnership offers timely payments, transparent communication, ethical cooperation, and access to continuous project opportunities across modern vessels and offshore units.
• Maritime Academies & Training CenterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerORCA maintains long-standing relationships with maritime academies and training centers to support cadet placements, junior officer positions, and structured career development programmes. These partnerships help feed ORCA's talent pipeline with newly qualified maritime professionals and support local workforce development, particularly in emerging markets like Suriname.
• Offshore Industry NetworksminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorORCA collaborates with offshore industry networks to identify and supply experienced maritime and offshore personnel. These networks expand ORCA's reach for candidate sourcing and project opportunities in the offshore energy sector.
• Local Educational Institutions (Suriname)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerORCA is establishing partnerships with local educational institutions in Suriname to develop structured training and cadet programmes, supporting the professionalisation of the Surinamese maritime workforce in alignment with STCW standards.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Synergy Marine Group: Singapore-headquartered ship management and crewing provider with global operations. Direct peer in crew supply and vessel management, with comparable service portfolio spanning tankers, containers, and offshore.
• Fleet Management Limited: Hong Kong-based global ship management firm with comprehensive crew management operations. Directly comparable across ship management and multi-jurisdiction crew sourcing, with a similarly broad vessel segment coverage.
• OSM Maritime Group: Norway-headquartered ship management and crewing group with strong offshore and offshore-wind presence. Directly comparable to ORCA across offshore crew supply and technical management, particularly in Northern European markets.
• Wallem Group: Hong Kong-headquartered ship management and crewing group with European and Asian operations. Direct peer across ship management and crew supply, with comparable service tier and multi-jurisdiction footprint.
• Atlas Professionals: Netherlands-based recruitment firm specializing in offshore wind, marine, and energy sector crew. Highly direct peer to ORCA's Wind Services and offshore crew offering, with a comparable Northern European base and energy-sector focus.
• Marlow Navigation: Cyprus-based ship management and crewing company operating globally with a strong Eastern European recruitment base. Direct peer in crew services and ship management, with comparable multi-jurisdiction payroll capability.
• Anglo-Eastern Univan: Major independent ship manager managing thousands of vessels with global crewing operations. Direct competitor in technical management and offshore/merchant crew supply, with deep Indian/Asian and European sourcing networks analogous to ORCA's owned offices.
• V.Ships: Largest independent ship management and crewing group globally, providing crew supply and ship management to vessel owners across all major maritime segments. Directly comparable to ORCA in ship management and crew services, but at vastly greater scale and with a broader geographic and customer footprint.
• Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM): Family-owned global ship management and crewing group serving tankers, containers, and offshore. Direct peer across crew services and ship management, with similar founder-led ownership profile and global office footprint.

Emerging players

• Mintra Group (including Seagull Maritime): Maritime training, competence, and crew-management software provider serving shipowners and maritime academies. Adjacent peer offering complementary crew-development and compliance tooling that overlaps with ORCA's training-center partnerships and certification management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeorca-crew.com/video/orca-crew-introductory-video
• Xx.com/orca_crew
• Facebookfacebook.com/orcacrewservicesbv

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ORCA