When 20-year-old South African stewardess Paige Bell was killed aboard a superyacht in the Bahamas in July 2025, the tragedy sent shockwaves through the yachting industry. In the months that followed, friends of Bell's family, Charni Johnson and Nikki Coetzer, heard from yacht crew worldwide who shared stories of harassment, exploitation, intimidation, recruitment scams and uncertainty about where to turn for help.
Those conversations inspired the creation of Protecting Crew Lives (PCL), a free yacht crew safety advocacy platform launched in June 2026 that aims to help crew better understand their maritime rights, responsibilities and the support available to them. Rather than replacing existing crew welfare organisations or reinterpreting maritime regulations, PCL brings together information that already exists, making it easier for superyacht crew to find before they face a crisis.
“Protecting Crew Lives was founded with one clear purpose: to arm crew with the knowledge, resources and voice that the maritime law already entitles them to,” Johnson and Coetzer told Dockwalk. “When crew understand their rights and responsibilities, the whole industry wins.”
The organisation's mission traces back to a question Bell's mother asked after losing her daughter: "How could my daughter's life be in vain?" While they couldn't answer that question, the founders felt a responsibility to ensure her legacy inspired meaningful change in yacht crew safety.
A dangerous gap in yacht crew knowledge
Speaking with superyacht crew worldwide, the founders realised the problem wasn't a lack of legal protections for yacht crew - it was that many crew didn't know those protections existed or where to find reliable guidance when they needed it most.
“It wasn't simply a lack of legal protections,” Coetzer says. “It was a lack of awareness of the protections, resources and reporting pathways that already exist. For too long, an industry-wide culture of turning a blind eye to workplace misconduct has left crew feeling traumatised, isolated and hesitant to speak up. Even when safety and reporting systems exist, they are too often ignored or swept under the carpet. This systemic silence creates a critical hidden risk for maritime insurers. When crew are forced to falsify work-and-rest hours to mask extreme fatigue, insurers unknowingly take on immense liability. Operating under these conditions compromises decision-making, reaction times and safety protocols, putting everyone on board at severe risk."
Yacht crew, they say, were unsure where to find information about crew employment agreements, yacht crew visas, reporting structures or their rights under maritime law. Others admitted they stayed silent about bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault, physical assault, verbal abuse or unsafe yacht practices because they feared damaging their careers.
Coetzer and Johnson believe crew education is one of the most effective ways to close that gap. Their goal, Johnson says, is to bridge the gap between existing protections and the yacht crewmembers who need them, directing them to trusted information and support before situations escalate.
What Protecting Crew Lives offers yacht crew
PCL's online yacht crew safety platform includes a four-stage resource library for superyacht crew, covering topics from pre-boarding checks and legal rights to reporting procedures, escalation pathways and crew repatriation. It also offers plain-language guides explaining key regulations such as the MLC 2006, STCW and the ISPS Code, along with links to crew reporting organisations and yacht crew support services.
The platform is available as a Progressive Web App, allowing yacht crew to access safety resources offline from any smartphone, even while at sea.
“Information only has value if the people who need it can actually understand and apply it in a high-stress moment,” Johnson says.
Empowering yacht crew through knowledge
While PCL advocates for yacht crew welfare, Johnson and Coetzer stress that the organisation is equally focused on helping crew understand the professional and regulatory environment in which they work.
The founders say Bell's death also forced a broader question: Are new yacht crew being adequately prepared for the realities of life at sea, or simply trained to perform the practical aspects of their jobs?
“Human rights at sea aren’t a luxury or a privilege, they are the law,” says Coetzer. “This includes freedom from harassment, access to fair medical care and the right to work in a safe environment.”
But understanding those rights is only part of the equation. The founders believe education alone isn't enough if yacht crew still fear the consequences of speaking up. During a recent conversation with Dockwalk, they expressed concerns that retaliation against yacht crew and informal blacklisting in yachting continue to discourage some crew from speaking up, even when formal yacht crew reporting pathways exist.
At the same time, they emphasised that meaningful change requires collaboration, not conflict and credited yacht captains, yacht owners, NGOs and industry stakeholders who have supported the initiative since its launch.
Looking ahead: Data-driven yacht crew safety
Beyond its educational resources, PCL hopes to help drive long-term yacht industry improvements through data. Recently, the organisation launched an anonymous Onboard Crew Survey in collaboration with CrewGuard to gather aggregated information about yacht crew experiences across the industry.
“For years, the industry has relied on anecdotal stories. The survey allows us to capture the true operational patterns across the sector,” Johnson says.
On 15 July 2026, PCL also launched the 'My Story' page — a peer-to-peer platform where crew can share personal experiences, positive or negative, either anonymously or publicly. Designed for stories from July 2025 onward, it aims to measure what has changed in the year since Paige Bell's passing and whether systemic issues persist. When crew share their experiences, others facing similar challenges know they are not alone.
Johnson and Coetzer hope the findings will help identify recurring issues while also highlighting examples of strong yacht leadership and positive yacht workplace cultures. They also point to sexual harassment reporting guidance issued by the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry and increased oversight from Port State Control and the U.S. Coast Guard as encouraging signs that yacht crew welfare is receiving greater attention.
Ultimately, they hope Protecting Crew Lives becomes a trusted resource that helps prepare yacht crew before they ever step aboard.
“Our deepest hope is that Paige’s legacy is cemented as one of profound, preventative change,” they say. “If the platform we built in her memory encourages just one person to question a shady contract, report an unsafe practice or find the emergency support they need instead of suffering in silence, then her legacy is actively saving lives.”
Change is already happening. Recently, a crew member reported that using PCL's resources helped them secure a fair legal outcome - proof that when crew have the right knowledge, they can successfully stand up for their rights.