Crew Insurance
Protecting the people who keep your vessel moving.
Your crew is one of your most important assets. Crew insurance
provides medical, accident and personal protection designed
around the people working on board.
What is Crew Insurance?
Life and work at sea create specific exposures.
Crew members may spend long periods away from their home country and require prompt access to private medical treatment, emergency evacuation, and financial protection following sudden illness or accidental injury.
Crew insurance can provide direct protection and benefits for individual crew members or an entire crew, depending on the programme selected.
Maritime Labour Convention (MLC)
For commercially operated vessels, crew protection may also need to take into account employment arrangements and regulatory obligations, including Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) related considerations where applicable.
What can Crew Insurance cover?
Medical care & assistance
- International medical expenses
- Emergency medical treatment
- Hospitalisation
- Medical evacuation
- Repatriation
Accident & income protection
- Accidental death
- Permanent disability
- Temporary disability
- Personal Accident
- Income protectionWhere available
Additional benefits
- Additional employee benefits
- War related extensionsWhere required
Protection wherever your crew works
Crew Insurance and P&I are not the same thing
Crew Insurance
Designed around benefits and protection for the individual crew member.
This can include medical insurance, personal accident, evacuation and disability benefits.
P&I (Protection & Indemnity)
Primarily protects the vessel owner against covered liabilities arising towards crew members and other third parties.
Depending on the vessel, employment arrangements, flag and operations, both types of coverage may form part of the overall insurance programme.
Crew protection can also involve regulatory obligations
Crew insurance requirements can vary widely depending on the vessel flag, Seafarer Employment Agreements (SEAs), crew nationalities, operational cruising areas, and applicable maritime conventions.
For commercially operated vessels, standards such as those mandated under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 must be strictly observed. Our role at BPY is to audit your vessel’s legal operating structure before engineering an insurance solution that leaves no exposure unchecked.
What do insurers look at?
Crew insurers consider who is on board, the protection required and the vessel’s operating profile.
The crew
- Number of crew members
- Crew roles and duties
- Nationalities and residence
- Employment arrangements
Protection & benefits
- Medical and accident cover
- Evacuation and repatriation
- Disability and income benefits
- Requested benefit limits
Vessel & operations
- Vessel flag
- Private or commercial use
- Navigation and working areas
- Applicable employment obligations
Who is it for?
Private yacht owners employing crew
Yacht management companies
Professional crew
Protecting the people behind the vessel
Crew insurance should reflect where your people live, where they work, and how the vessel operates.
We help identify suitable medical and personal protection solutions while considering the broader marine insurance programme and syndicate parameters.
- 01
Understand
We identify your operational exposure, review crew contracts, evaluate guest itineraries, and audit previous loss runs.
- 02
Structure
We determine appropriate limits, draft tailored endorsements, and calibrate between mutual club and fixed premium structures.
- 03
Place
We approach primary Lloyd's syndicates and leading A-rated marine underwriters to obtain competitive, watertight terms.
- 04
Support
We provide 24/7 casualty response, manage correspondent liaisons, issue port certificates, and coordinate legal defence.
