Velvet Ocean Crew

The whole yachting industry,
in one network.

From green crew to career captains — verified profiles, matches you can actually understand, and hiring that moves at season speed.

Verifiedreferences & documents
No commissionon crew salaries
In Europedata hosted · GDPR
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For crew

Your profile, always online

Sign-up & profile free · forever

  • A profile they can verifySTCW, ENG1 and tickets visible to the people hiring.
  • You control availabilityAvailable, onboard or seeking daywork — switch in one tap.
  • Direct contactOffers reach you directly. No commission on your salary.
Create free profile →
1 month free Agencies · Charter · Owners

The right crew, filtered

Full access free for 1 month · then simple pricing

  • Try everything, free for a monthSearch, shortlist and message crew — no card required to start.
  • Filters built for yachtingRole, ticket, vessel size, languages, location, availability.
  • Real profiles onlyDocuments and references verified before joining the network.
Start 1 month free →
Every side of the deck

One network, whatever your role

Crew, command, agencies and ownership all work from the same verified profiles — no rekeying CVs, no chasing certificates by email.

Crew

Build one profile and let the right boats find you. Free forever — and never a cut of your salary.

Captains & HODs

Fill a gap fast with candidates ranked by fit for your vessel — and see exactly why each one fits.

Agencies

Search a verified talent pool, shortlist in minutes and place with confidence. Your first month is on us.

Owners & charter

Know who steps aboard: documents and references checked before anyone reaches your shortlist.

For crew

Your profile does the work

Set it up once, keep it current in seconds. Everything the people hiring need to say yes, in one place.

Always-on profile

Your CV, roles and sea time live online and stay ready — no attachments, no retyping.

Document vault

STCW, ENG1, Yachtmaster and visas in one place, with expiry dates tracked for you.

Availability in a tap

Available, onboard or open to daywork — switch your status the moment it changes.

See your match score

On every role, know how well you fit — and the few things that would lift you higher.

Saved jobs & alerts

Follow the positions that fit, and hear about new ones the day they open.

Apply in one click

Your profile is your application — reach the people hiring directly, no middleman.

How matching works

Ranked by fit — and it shows you why

The match score is a deterministic engine: same inputs, same result, every factor visible. AI helps in one place only — turning a recruiter’s free-text job post into structured requirements they confirm.

Deterministic engine

Automatic crew matching

The moment a position is posted, the engine scores every crew profile in the network and ranks them by role, tickets, vessel size, languages and availability — eight weighted factors, not keywords. The best matches surface instantly, each with the exact reasons behind the score.

Yachting filters

Search the way you crew a boat

Filter by the things that actually decide a hire — department, ticket, vessel size, languages, location and immediate availability — and see how each candidate scores against the role. Verified profiles only, no keyword guesswork.

Verified documents

Certificates in one place

Crew upload STCW, ENG1, Yachtmaster and visas once, with issue and expiry dates. The people hiring see them at a glance — and the platform flags certificates that expire before a job’s start date. No documents traded over chat.

AI job parsing

Write the job in plain words

Paste a role description as you’d write it and AI drafts the structured requirements — rank, tickets, vessel size, languages, start date. You review and confirm before it goes live; the match score itself stays fully deterministic.

For employers

From post to shortlist in three steps

No boolean queries, no inbox full of CVs. Describe the role and let the network do the sorting.

1

Describe the role in plain words

Write the job the way you'd say it. AI turns it into structured requirements you review and confirm.

2

Get crew ranked by fit

The engine scores every verified profile against the role and orders them best-first — with the reasons in plain view.

3

Shortlist and talk directly

Favourite the ones you like and message them inside the platform. No commission, no gatekeeper.

Why Velvet Ocean

The difference is in the details

A platform built by people who know the deck, the galley and the bridge.

Free for crew

A complete profile costs nothing — and never will. We don't take a cut of your salary, ever.

Verified documents

STCW, ENG1, Yachtmaster and visas uploaded once and shown to the people hiring — no documents traded over chat.

Direct contact

Crew and employers connect directly. Faster placements, fewer intermediaries, clearer conversations.

Built for yachting

Search by the things that actually matter onboard: department, ticket, vessel size and immediate availability.

The network

Search the crew network

A preview of what owners, charter companies and agencies will search. Try the filters on these sample profiles to see the experience.

Showing 8 of 8 profiles
Trust & verification

Real profiles, verified documents

Every crew profile can upload and display the certificates required onboard. The people hiring see at a glance who's in good standing.

STCW
Basic SafetyMandatory certification
ENG1
Medical fitnessML5 / ENG1
YM
YachtmasterCoastal · Offshore · Ocean
B1B2
US VisaCrew & Caribbean ready
Verified
Documents & references
Explained
Every match score
Direct
Crew ↔ employer contact
Questions

Good to know

Straight answers to what crew and employers ask us most.

Is it really free for crew?

Yes — building a profile and applying is free, permanently, and we never take a percentage of your salary. Employers get a free first month, then a simple subscription.

How does the match score work?

It's a deterministic engine, not a black box. It weighs eight factors — rank, sea time, vessel length and type, usage, languages, certificates and availability — and shows the exact reasons behind every score. Same inputs, same result.

Do you use AI?

In one place only: reading an employer's free-text job post and drafting the structured requirements they then confirm. The match score itself never involves AI.

Who can see my documents?

Only the people hiring for roles you engage with. Certificates and references are shown to confirm you're in good standing — never sold or shared beyond the network.

Do employers need a card to start?

No. You can open an account, search and shortlist through the free month without entering any payment details.

Where is my data stored?

On servers in Europe, handled under the GDPR. You can update or remove your profile at any time.

Ready to set sail

Your next season
starts here

Crew join free. Owners, charter companies and agencies start with one month free.