Female yacht crew members are hired based on their looks and given luxury gifts by guests in exchange for sex, according to the captain of a superyacht.
The captain, who signed confidentiality documents, told the publication about the murky world on board luxury vessels. He said that some boats forced female crew members to test for STDs, citing friends and former colleagues who worked on them. The captain said that some yacht users would exchange sex for gifts.
The captain, who has worked for some of the wealthiest boat owners, said that it is the norm in the industry. It is quite crazy and disgusting.
Female job applicants are usually required to send full-length photos of themselves to get a job, according to the captain. An anonymous deckhand who claimed to have worked on billionaires megayachts told Vice that some boats only hired crew based on their appearance and dress size.
The owner of a vessel she worked on offered to pay for the six female employees of the ship to get breast enlargements, according to Alice Tiller.
Half of the people who responded to a survey by the Professional Yachting Association said they had been targets of unwanted sexual or sexist comments while working. In addition, 42% said they had received unwanted physical contact from a fellow crew member, 18% said it came from a guest, and 8% said they had experienced both.
Crew members said in the survey that they had been raped, groped, and subjected to violence. A female crew member of a yacht said that her drink was spiked and she was raped by a guest.
The deckhand told Vice that there is a sexual element to the job.
The guests live in a bubble and use superyachts as their playground.
The deckhand said that crew members didn't complain about how they were treated if they had their bonuses or perks taken away.
The captain told The Guardian that prostitution on the boats was a secret. He said that some of the vessels needed deep cleaning to remove traces of cocaine, and that drugs flowed on some of them.
The deckhand who spoke to Vice said he had to clean up the mess caused by sex parties and prostitutes.
Some yacht owners hire a secondary superyacht to trail the main vessel with women on board who would be swapped on and off, according to a chef on a superyacht.
It is an incredibly secretive world which no one really knows much about, the deckhand said.
According to The Guardian, employment contracts forbid yacht staff from posting pictures of the yacht online, speaking to the media, or revealing information about the boat's ownership.
Do you work in the industry? Please email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.
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