Last updated: October 2026
“It’s just the standard contract. Everyone on board signs the same one.”
That’s how most crew are handed their Seafarer Employment Agreement: as a formality, somewhere between the medical and the uniform fitting. You sign, you hand it back, and you may not see it again until something goes wrong.
But the SEA isn’t paperwork around the job. It is the job, in writing: your pay, your leave, your notice, who employs you and how you get home. This guide explains in plain English what an SEA is, what the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) says it has to contain, and what you’re entitled to around signing it. It’s for crew about to sign their first one, and for anyone who has signed several without ever really reading one.
What an SEA actually is
A Seafarer Employment Agreement is your written employment contract at sea. Under MLC 2006 (Regulation 2.1), every seafarer on a ship covered by the Convention must have one, in writing, signed by both you and the shipowner or someone representing them.
Two things follow from that.
First, it’s the document that turns promises into terms. A captain’s “you’ll get a bonus after the season,” a recruiter’s phone call, a WhatsApp message about time off: none of that carries the same weight as what’s written and signed.
Second, it’s yours. You’re entitled to your own signed original. Not a photo of the captain’s copy, and not “it’s on file in the office.”
The SEA vs the other papers you’ll sign
Joining a yacht usually comes with a stack of documents. They’re not all the same thing:
- The job offer or offer letter. What you were promised before joining. Useful evidence, but it isn’t your SEA. If the two don’t match, the SEA is usually what counts, which is why a mismatch is worth catching before you sign.
- The SEA. Your employment contract, and the one that matters most.
- Crew agreement or ship’s articles. Depending on the flag, a vessel-level document you sign when joining. Under some flags it forms part of your contract; under others it’s separate. Worth asking which.
- NDA or confidentiality agreement. About the owner’s and guests’ privacy. Important, but it doesn’t set your pay or leave.
- Crew handbook or boat rules. How the boat runs day to day. If the SEA refers to it, its rules can quietly become part of your contract.
- Agency terms. If a recruiter placed you, their own terms with you or with the boat.
If one of these contradicts your SEA, that’s a question to ask before signing, not after.
What MLC says your SEA must include
The MLC (Standard A2.1) sets out the minimum particulars every SEA should contain. In plain English:
- Your details: full name, date of birth or age, and birthplace.
- The shipowner’s name and address.
- Where and when the agreement was signed.
- Your position: the capacity you’re employed in.
- Your wages: the amount, or the formula used to calculate them.
- Your paid annual leave: the amount, or the formula for it.
- How the agreement ends: the termination terms, including notice. For a fixed term, the end date. For an open-ended agreement, the notice period on each side.
- Health and social security protection the shipowner provides.
- Your repatriation entitlement.
- Any collective bargaining agreement that applies, if there is one.
Your flag state can require more. It can’t require less. If something on this list is missing, vague, or “to be agreed later,” that’s a gap. Gaps tend to get filled in someone else’s favour once a dispute starts.
Who your employer really is
his catches out a lot of crew. The name at the top of your SEA may not be the yacht, and it may not be the owner. It could be a management company, a crewing agency, or an employment company registered in a third country.
That matters, because when pay stops, you claim against whoever is legally your employer. Under the MLC, the “shipowner” responsible for your conditions can include a manager or operator who has taken on that responsibility from the owner. Knowing exactly who that is, and where they’re based, is part of knowing what you’ve signed. Our guide on accepting a yacht job through a recruiter goes deeper on this.
Your rights around signing
The MLC doesn’t only say what goes into the SEA. It also says how you should be treated when you sign it (Standard A2.1):
- You should get the chance to read it and seek advice before signing. “Sign it now, we’re leaving at six” isn’t how it’s meant to work.
- You and the shipowner should each have a signed original.
- Clear information about your conditions should be easy to get on board, including a copy of your SEA.
- You should receive a record of your employment, typically a discharge book or certificate of discharge. It isn’t meant to contain any comment on the quality of your work or on your wages.
If an agency placed you, a separate MLC rule (Regulation 1.4) means you shouldn’t be charged a fee for being found the job.
Why “standard” doesn’t mean “safe”
Many yachts use an industry template, and plenty of templates are perfectly reasonable. But “standard” describes the format, not your protection.
What decides most disputes is the detail around the template: the governing law named in the SEA, the notice clause, how leave is calculated, what happens to your flight home if you leave early, and anything attached as an addendum. Two crew on two yachts can sign the “same” template and end up with very different rights, because a different governing law, flag or employer changes how every one of those clauses is read.
That’s the honest part. The MLC gives you a floor. Your SEA, your flag and your employer’s jurisdiction decide what’s actually built on top of it, and that combination is different on nearly every boat.
Common situations
Situation A: signed on the dock, no copy. You signed in a rush and handed it back. Ask for your signed original in writing now. You’re entitled to it, and asking early is normal.
Situation B: “We’ll send the SEA once you’ve joined.” You’re already working without one. Note the date you started and ask for the SEA in writing. The longer it’s “coming,” the longer your job runs on verbal terms only.
Situation C: the SEA says a different salary than the offer. The offer email said one figure and the contract says another. Raise it before signing, with the offer in hand, calmly and as a clarification. Our guide on how to raise a pay issue with your captain shows how to frame it.
Situation D: a new SEA mid-contract. You’re asked to sign a replacement, sometimes backdated, sometimes with new terms. Read what has changed before you sign. A new contract can quietly reset things like your start date or your notice.
Situation E: an employer you’ve never heard of. The SEA names a company in another country. Find out who they are and where they’re based before you commit. That’s who you’d be dealing with if wages stopped.
What not to do
- Don’t sign anything you haven’t read. “Standard” is not a reason to skip it.
- Don’t rely on verbal promises that aren’t in the SEA. If it matters, ask for it in writing.
- Don’t hand back your only signed copy.
- Don’t assume the offer letter overrides the SEA. It usually works the other way round.
- Don’t pay a placement fee to be found the job.
Where CrewRights fits
Most crew don’t need a lawyer to read their SEA. They need someone to tell them, in plain English, what they’re actually signing, before they sign it.
If you want to go clause by clause, our guide on what to check in a Seafarer Employment Agreement before signing walks through the seven areas that matter most. Our free SEA Red Flags Guide covers the phrases worth pausing on.
If you’d rather have your own contract read properly, our SEA Contract Review (€199) is a fixed-fee, plain-English read of your agreement: what your governing law and notice terms actually mean, and which clauses are normal or quietly stacked against you. Not sure you need it? Check my case and we’ll tell you within 24 hours whether a pack fits, before you pay anything.
In short
- Your SEA is your employment contract: written, signed by both sides, and yours to keep.
- MLC 2006 sets the minimum it must contain, including pay, leave, termination and notice, health protection and repatriation.
- The offer letter, crew handbook and NDA are not your SEA.
- The employer named may not be the yacht or the owner. Know who it is.
- “Standard” describes the template, not your protection. Your governing law, flag and employer decide what the clauses really mean.
Related reading:
CrewRights provides fixed-fee information and document-preparation support for yacht and commercial crew. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney–client relationship.