Captains and crew are calling for higher safety standards in yachting, with growing support for mandatory background checks for all crewmembers. Paige Bell, a 20-year-old stewardess on board M/Y Far From It, was found dead on Thursday, July 3, on the yacht in Harbour Island, Eleuthera. Bell was discovered in the yacht’s engine room, with 39-year-old Brigido Muñoz next to her. Muñoz was charged with murder on July 9 in the Magistrate Court in the Bahamas and is being held without bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for November. An uproar from the yachting community swiftly followed the tragedy. Captains, crew, and industry professionals flooded social media outlets and forums to demand change in the industry. Different ideas on how to implement the changes were shared, but many agreed that crew background checks should be required. A petition to make criminal background checks a legal requirement for seafarers internationally, created by Jesse Frost, founder and director of CREWFOLIO, quickly garnered more than 6,000 verified signatures. Neither the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) Convention nor the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) explicitly mandate seafarer criminal background checks, but Conrad Empson, managing director of CrewPass — a platform that makes yachting safer by providing trusted and comprehensive crew vetting — is advocating for change. “The tragic event highlighted a strong desire within the yachting community to take proactive measures for crew safety. While background checks alone cannot prevent every incident, they represent an important step toward risk reduction and accountability,” Empson stated. “Many countries already view criminal history checks as standard practice when working with vulnerable individuals, and I believe yachting will move in the same direction over time.” Capt. Adam Parnell, CHIRP’s maritime director, agrees that the practice some countries have of allowing hirers to view criminal history checks would improve seafarer safety. CHIRP is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides an independent, impartial, and confidential reporting service on safety incidents from the global maritime industry, improving maritime safety culture in the process. Parnell references the United Kingdom’s Disclosure and Barring Service, a government agency that provides criminal record checks for employers, as a practice that yachting could adopt. “I know that doesn’t exist in many countries, and this is where the tragedy lies, because people will be found out, sacked from a vessel to one [flag] state, go along the jetty, walk up, get a job on the next vessel, which is flagged to a different state, and that reputation doesn’t follow them,” Parnell said. “So, they are free, effectively, to go and continue their nefarious activities, basically free from any consequence.” This challenge is well-recognized, according to Empson. Is there hope for a “universal” system? “We address this by tying each background check to the individual crewmember, rather than just the yacht. This means that even if a particular yacht has not conducted its own checks, employers can still see whether a crewmember already has a valid report, something that can be verified quickly and free of charge,” Empson said. “In terms of a long-term solution, the most effective step would be industry-wide adoption of background checks. A truly ‘universal’ system may take time to develop, but the foundations are already in place.” However, a game-changer that could help development is if flag states integrate background checks into their safety assessments, according to Empson. While no flag state has done this yet — the United States Coast Guard only requires background checks for those applying for a U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) or certain crew on U.S.-flagged large passenger vessels — one flag state is looking to improve crew welfare. “Coming from yacht management less than a year ago, I noticed that the Cayman Islands has actively been looking at reforming, for at least a year or more, what they can do on the crew safety and wellbeing side,” said Gabriella Cramer, newly appointed business development manager and technical support for the Americas at Cayman Islands Shipping Registry and president and founder of GC Maritime Consulting and Training. As of March 2024, under the Merchant Shipping Act 2024, The Cayman Islands require employment agreements for all crew, even on private and pleasure yachts. “To my knowledge, the Cayman Islands is the only flag state of the main yachting flag states that has made it mandatory, for even private vessels, to implement employment agreements which cover baseline elements including repatriation,” Cramer said. “In terms of crew safety and wellbeing, the main message that needs to be crystal clear for crew, managers, and DPAs is that there is a reporting avenue for them through the flag state, which applies to both private and commercial vessels, and as part of the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry's mission statement, our role is to ensure the ‘compliance…in the areas of maritime safety and security, pollution prevention, and social responsibility.’” While many remain hopeful that flag states will implement mandatory background checks, this will not solve everything. “There are times where a background check might highlight something about an individual that’s not great for team environments or any kind of human safety,” Cramer said. “A lot of times, though, you also have people who haven’t been caught. Those are big cracks — those are still issues that a background check won’t help with. As a former crewmember that experienced and saw others experience HR and wellbeing issues in silence, we need to keep the momentum going with empowering crew to know they deserve to have a safe working environment and when it is not, ensure they are aware of and utilize the direct reporting avenues without retaliation so we can help hold those persons with mal intentions accountable,” Cramer said. “It won’t be resolved from only a few stakeholders taking this seriously or one resolution method. It needs to be an industry-wide actioned effort to stop the cycle.” First-time offenders are always a possibility, with no background checks able to predict these occurrences. Still, they would be a much-needed upgrade. Another challenge Empson believes is overlooked is the urgency of crew recruitment. “Yachts often need someone on board immediately, and this can lead to hiring decisions where availability outweighs suitability. A practical approach is to integrate background checks into contracts, allowing crew to begin work while paperwork is processed,” Empson said. “If concerns arise during the vetting, the yacht retains the option to reconsider. This balances the industry’s fast-paced demands with the need for safety.” While the path to a safer crew life is hopefully on the horizon, crew cannot wait to stay safe. In the meantime, it is important to be aware of resources available within the industry. The International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) offers a free, confidential 24-hour helpline, YachtCrewHelp. The international not-for-profit organization’s multilingual helpline is available for crew and their families, offering emotional support and practical assistance through email, phone, WhatsApp, and live chat on their website. “We receive a wide range of queries from crew. A crewmember might be worried about something or feeling isolated while working on board and need to talk to someone about it, or they might need more practical guidance for issues like contract queries and employment terms,” said Amy Liebthal, ISWAN’s communications manager. While confidential, ISWAN releases anonymous, topline data from its helplines to show the types of cases increasing in their calls. Although calls have decreased from 2023 to 2024, cases related to abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence have increased by 21.4%, according to ISWAN’s annual report. ISWAN helps emotionally support crew through their calls but is also connected with a wide range of organizations to help crew find further assistance. Still, the industry must work together to tackle these issues. “Taking a proactive approach to understanding the sorts of challenges that crew face and also the root causes of those issues, the industry really needs to focus on that,” Liebthal said. “We’re hoping insights from YachtCrewHelp, for example, will provide an idea of what crew are facing and help the industry take preventative steps rather than reacting to these situations after they happen.” Parnell and CHIRP also receive confidential reports from seafarers around the world, with crew able to submit their reports online. After accepting reports, CHIRP raises the safety issue to the employer, company, or organization (like a flag state or a yacht) that has the issue. Often, they’re unaware that they’re doing something unsafe and are amenable to CHIRP approaching on someone else’s behalf. This can be daunting for crew, as they fear they’ll be identified, but Parnell assures that reports are kept as confidential as possible and that CHIRP won’t necessarily say “one of your crewmembers said this.” While CHIRP has helped many yachts improve safety, Parnell believes a change within crew circles is necessary for a safer industry. “We’ve got to start listening to the victims and stop trying to protect the perpetrators because we think that they’re a good person,” Parnell said. “They could be the best ship handler in the world, the best front of house in the world, the best engineer in the world, but if they are a danger to the rest of the crew, they are a walking danger safety zone.” Check out Triton's latest issue