Yacht Crew International

What Yacht Crew International does

Yacht Crew International (YCI) is a privately held yacht crew recruitment and employment agency founded in 2017 and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The firm connects yacht owners, operators, and management companies with qualified crew including captains, officers, deckhands, bosuns, engineers, stewards, and chefs across vessel types and flag states. YCI operates a relationship-driven, sales-led model with global reach, mediated through direct email and phone outreach to co-founders Duncan Bray (20 years of yacht recruitment experience) and Michelle Ortega (5 years, interior-position specialist, ex-Google). The company does not disclose specific job openings publicly due to client confidentiality preferences, instead providing a current job list with salary ranges and routing interested parties through direct contact.

YCI generates revenue through placement fees charged to employers (yacht owners and operators) on successful crew matches, with all pricing negotiated privately and not publicly disclosed. Its core operating assets are an extensive 20-year industry network, a curated database of screened candidates, and a rigorous matching process — there is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML capability, and no software product. Marketing is conducted through organic social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X) and direct outreach. The firm appears bootstrapped and founder-owned with no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, or external funding.

The company is a small team (approximately 8 employees) with two key producers. Distribution runs through direct sales to enterprise-style clients (yacht owners and management companies), with a confidential job listings page as a supplementary channel. Competitive advantages derive from the founders' deep industry relationships, brand reputation for professionalism, and specialized interior-position expertise rather than from technology, scale, or pricing differentiation.

Name

Yacht Crew International

Legal name

Yacht Crew International

Website

https://yachtcrewinternational.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Yacht Crew International is a privately held, relationship-driven yacht crew recruitment agency founded in 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, connecting yacht owners and operators with qualified captains, deckhands, engineers, stewards, and chefs via direct placement services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Yacht Crew Recruitment / Marine Staffing Services

akta.pro primary industry

Private Yacht & Luxury Boat Charters (With Crew) (THAJALAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cruise Yacht Charters (Private Crewed) (THAEADAG)

Keywords

• Yacht crew recruitment
• Marine staffing services
• Yacht employment agency
• Crew placement services
• Yachting recruitment

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Recruitment/Placement Fees: YCI generates revenue by charging employers (yacht owners/operators) for successful placements of crew members. The company matches qualified candidates with job openings in the yachting industry, facilitating the hiring process for both parties. Specific fee structures are not publicly disclosed and are handled through direct inquiry.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Yacht Crew International is a yacht crew recruitment and employment agency that connects qualified crew candidates (captains, officers, deckhands, engineers, chefs, interior staff) with yacht owners and operators. The agency offers confidential job listings and personalized recruitment support, performing rigorous candidate screening and leveraging an extensive industry network to facilitate placements across deck, interior, culinary, and engineering departments.

Product overview

Yacht Crew International (YCI) operates as a unified recruitment and employment agency platform rather than a modular software product. The core offering combines a confidential job listing service featuring current yacht crew positions with personalized recruitment support that leverages an extensive candidate database and rigorous screening processes. Services span multiple vessel types and crew categories including deck crew (captains, officers, mates, deckhands, bosuns), interior crew (stewards), culinary (chefs), and engineering positions. The company connects employers seeking qualified yacht crew with job seekers through tailored matching, leveraging two decades of industry expertise and an extensive professional network.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Yacht Crew International Employment Services Premier yacht crew recruitment and employment agency service connecting talented individuals with employment opportunities in the yachting industry; provides comprehensive crewing solutions including recruitment strategies, rigorous candidate screening, and personalized support to match qualified crew members with yacht employers.
• Current Job Listings Confidential job listing service featuring current yacht crew positions across deck, interior, culinary, and engineering departments — including captains, officers, deckhands, stewards, chefs, and engineers — with varying vessel sizes, flag states, license requirements, salary ranges, and leave arrangements. Full details are disclosed only upon direct contact with YCI.
• Personalized Recruitment Support Tailored employment services that match client needs with qualified candidates by leveraging an extensive industry knowledge base and network relationships to facilitate seamless yacht crew placements.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of successful placements over 20 years
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Worth Avenue Yachts: Worth Avenue Yachts is a yacht brokerage and charter firm that supports crew placement and yacht management for owners. It is a broad incumbent peer competing for the same owner relationships, although crew is one component of a wider service suite rather than the standalone focus.
• Fraser Yachts: Fraser Yachts is a global yacht brokerage, charter, and management company with crewing services integrated across its managed fleet. It is a broad incumbent peer of YCI because it places crew for the same owner segment while also competing in brokerage and charter.
• Edmiston: Edmiston is a major international yacht brokerage and management group that places crew as part of its full-service yacht management offering. It is a broad incumbent peer to YCI because crew recruitment is bundled with brokerage, charter, and management rather than sold standalone.
• Ocean Independence: Ocean Independence is a yacht management, charter, and sale firm with crewing capabilities serving HNW yacht owners. It overlaps with YCI in crew placement but competes from a broader service portfolio targeting the same owner and management customer base.
• Hill Robinson: Hill Robinson is a yacht management and crew placement firm providing technical management, charter, and crewing services to large private yachts. It competes with YCI on crew recruitment while also offering the wider management services that increasingly absorb crewing in-house.
• Camper & Nicholsons: Camper & Nicholsons is a long-established yacht management, brokerage, and charter operator with crewing services within its full-service offering. It overlaps with YCI in crew placement for managed and chartered yachts while also serving adjacent charter and sales verticals.
• Burgess: Burgess is a large, established yacht brokerage and management firm offering crew recruitment as part of a broader portfolio including sale, purchase, charter, and management. It competes with YCI for the same crewing mandates but from a much larger incumbent position with integrated services.
• Cecil Wright & Partners: Cecil Wright & Partners is a yacht management company that handles crew recruitment, technical management, and charter for private yachts. It competes with YCI for crew placement mandates while bundling crewing into a wider management proposition.

Direct peers

• Yacht Management International (YMI): YMI is a yacht crew and management services firm that recruits crew and supports operational management for private yachts. It is a direct peer because crewing is the core service and its target customers — yacht owners and management companies — overlap almost entirely with YCI's.
• YPI Crew: YPI Crew is a yacht crew recruitment and placement agency serving owners, captains, and management companies globally. It is a direct peer to YCI because both operate transaction-fee-based crew placement businesses targeting the same HNW yacht owner and management customer base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/YachtCrewInternational
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yacht-crew-international
• Instagraminstagram.com/yachtcrewinternational/?hl=en-gb

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Yacht Crew International