Preview edition: content is under editorial review and this site is hidden from search engines.

Independent guidance for life and work at sea

Know your rights. Navigate crew life with confidence.

Practical guides to contracts, pay, rest and welfare, plus a free directory of official crew careers pages. Find the information you need and prepare better questions before your next step.

Educational resources for crew and their families. Individual rights and procedures depend on the relevant law and circumstances.

Sun setting over open water and a ship wake.

Crew Rights Compass Guides

Two practical guides for crew

One helps you understand the framework and ask better questions. The other helps you organise your records before speaking to an adviser. Both are being prepared for release; you can read real sample pages today.

Every department, one compass

From the bridge to the galley, built for all crew

Deck, engine, hotel, galley, stage, spa or sick bay: pick your department for the records worth keeping and the questions worth asking.

See crew life by department, plus crew-speak decoded

Independent and clearly sourced

Practical experience, clear sources, the right adviser

Crew Rights Compass brings practical maritime experience together with clearly sourced information. We explain the subject, show where information comes from and direct personal legal questions to qualified advisers.

The guides are written by Dr. Ezekiel Aluda Osolika, author and maritime physician, a Kenyan physician with shipboard, expedition, emergency and aeromedical experience. He is not a lawyer, and nothing here creates a legal-client relationship. Independent maritime legal review of the guides has not yet been completed; we will say so plainly until it has.

We are not a cruise line, recruitment agency, law firm, union, regulator or emergency service, and no employer or organisation listed on this site endorses it.

About the author and our independence · How we source and correct

Before your next contract, get organised.

A short, free list of questions about the employer, the application route, your documents, pay, travel and support. Read it online or download the PDF; no email needed.

Get the free joining checklist