Rising demand for yacht crew opens opportunities for Pinoys

CEBU, Philippines - Amid financial troubles faced by the European zone, demand for private yacht crew has continued to surge, providing opportunities for Filipinos to find good paying jobs abroad.

Private yacht crew supplier Eurasian Maritime Corporation president Belinda C. Wong reported that wealthy yacht owners mostly Europeans are expressing preference to hire Filipino crew, due to their world-renowned good working attitude and other positive attributes.

The Cebu-based personnel recruitment agency which specialized to provide manpower supply for privately-operated yacht facilities, is opening its doors to more applicants for the surging demand for crew personnel, such as stewards, engineers, watermen, among others.

In an interview with Wong yesterday, she said although other nationalities like Indian, Chinese, Thai are also entering into this industry, most owners still prefer to hire Filipinos not only for their English fluency, but also for its known positive disposition.

In fact, Wong is scheduled to join a “Boat Show” in Monaco in the next few weeks, to enter for deals with owners of private yacht facilities not only from Europe but also from other continents.  

“Wealthy people who own private yacht facilities are not affected by crisis. They continue to buy more boats for their own use and others are for charter services. The demand for yacht crew is surging,” Wong said.

Since the establishment of the company in 2009, Eurasian Maritime Corporation had already deployed over a hundred Filipinos to their clients, mostly in Europe.

According to Wong, at present monthly salary for an entry-level crew would average to 1,800 Euro (more or less P90,000 at P50 per one Euro exchange rate).

Mostly, aside from marine engineers, yacht crewing also need hotel and restaurant management graduates, those that have at least two years of experience, chefs, and others.

“There is huge opportunity for Filipinos to land high paying jobs as private yacht crew,” said Wong.

Unlike in the commercial cruise ships, yacht crewing more personalized in terms of employment as owners usually don’t require contractual employment deals, but based on the performance of a personnel.

“The demand is significantly growing. There are a lot of wealthy people owning multiple yacht facilities all over the world. They prefer Filipinos to man their boats,” Wong said.

Smallest private yacht would need at least 16 personnel including the captain. Large boats employ as much as 40 to 50 people.

Wong said part of the company’s long term expansion program to is widen its client-based to other continents in the world, including the United States.

At present, however, the company is still focusing on the European zone, while its demand for crewing still significantly growing. (FREEMAN)