No – Yes – 46.4% 53.6%
Captain jailed Skipper, vessel held in Mexico.
A5 Crime survey Have crew had trouble in travels?
C1
Vol. 5, No.12
www.the-triton.com
Taken away
Two murders in Caribbean claim crew lives. A4-11 March 2009
Job-seekers beware: e-mail scams target crew By Lucy Chabot Reed No, M/Y Princess Mariana is not hiring right now, and even if it were, the captain would not e-mail a job offer to anyone he hasn’t interviewed. And to be sure, no captain would ask any job candidate to send money to the boat, not for an airline ticket, processing a visa or any other reason. Yacht jobs just aren’t filled that way. “No crew member will ever be asked to send money to a boat,” said Capt. Mike O’Neill of M/Y Princess Mariana. “No matter who is offering what, you shouldn’t send money to anybody.” But with the economic downturn creating a global pool of people eagerly looking for work, an e-mail scam designed to separate people from their money has hit the yachting industry. Over the past few months, people looking for jobs on yachts have been hit with illegitimate job offers that seek detailed personal information in exchange for promises of good salaries on luxury yachts. Since early February, those e-mails come with the enticing name of the 252-foot M/Y Princess Mariana. Hit hard have been people posting their availability in online job forums, including The Triton’s classified listings. And some have fallen for it. One young woman from the Bahamas sent $2,000 to the senders of
The world wide web lets in the whole wide world – including the crooks.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/DORIE COX; CHRISTINE ABBOTT
the Princess Mariana scam, according to Kristen Cavallini-Soothill, director of American Yacht Institute in Ft. Lauderdale. Cavallini-Soothill helped the woman find another job and has been urging other crew not to be deceived by the scam. “Don’t send money to anybody,”
Several captains who have received these e-mails enumerated what they called obvious signs of deceit. 1. The grammar, punctuation and spelling are atrocious. Words are often in the wrong tense
Cavallini-Soothill said. “No one in yachting would ever charge you to get a job, certainly not the boat or the agencies. And don’t send your personal numbers out, your passport numbers or B1/B2 visa numbers. Identity theft is alive and well, and it’s hit the yachting industry.”
See SCAM, page A12
Captains say economy causing With work slow, crew turning instability, not gloom and doom to Facebook and school books The Western world’s economic situation has many stories to tell, and they aren’t all doom and gloom. Take The Triton’s monthly captain’s lunch, for example. Of the eight men gathered who earn their living operating someone else’s megayacht, one had a full-time From the Bridge job with a boss. Lucy Chabot Reed Yet another captain reported making more money in the past year of deliveries and relief work than he ever has in his distinguished career. Another who has floated in and out
of captain work over the years said he’s had more fun in the past six months simply playing with boats than he ever has, spending time fixing generators and taking week-long trips. Still, the seven are all looking for steady work. So we asked them how the economy has affected them? “Where do you start?” said one captain who attributes his current status to the downturn in the economy. “We had the owner on charter when it was announced, and the next day he hopped off the boat and flew to New York and I haven’t seen him since.”
See BRIDGE, page A16
By Dorie Cox Chief Stew Rachel Hargrove is doing everything she can to find work as yacht crew. Usually at sea with charter guests, this season she and many of her mates are on shore. Instead of having the captain plan their day, this season’s out-of-work crew plot their own courses with day work, classes, networking and distributing reams of resumes and business cards. Reaching out to connect with potential jobs, Hargrove and her boyfriend search for a team position by going to every meet-and-greet they can.
“I go early and am cautious not to have a drink in my hand the entire time,” she said. They have even created their own networking events. “We are in a crew house with a great backyard so we’ve been having barbecues every Wednesday,” she said. “Since everyone is having a hard time, we get together to exchange information and offer tips. “It’s a mix and match of people attending: captains, crew, people with connections,” she said. “We request that everyone bring someone to add to the networking and be a reference for
See CREW, page A17