No Training. Real Risk: Sexual Assault Response at Sea | The Wellbeing Project

A crew member reports sexual assault onboard. The captain may have decades at sea, but no formal training on how to handle that situation.

In this episode of The Wellbeing Project, Karine Rayson of The Crew Coach speaks with Chris O’Flaherty of The Nautical Institute about a serious gap in maritime regulation, onboard leadership, and crew safety.

Recent STCW amendments now include harassment prevention and sexual assault response training, but the training has been added to PSSR, a once-in-a-career certificate. That means many captains, officers, heads of department, and senior crew already working at sea may never be required to complete it.

The conversation looks at what this means for yacht crew, why the regulation matters, where it falls short, and why owners, operators, captains, and management companies cannot rely on compliance alone.

Because when something happens onboard, policy does not respond first. People do.

And if those people are not trained, the risk is very real.

In this conversation:

• Why the new STCW changes matter
 • The problem with placing this training inside PSSR
 • Why many existing captains and senior crew may be exempt
 • What sexual harassment and assault response means in practice
 • The role of flag state, company responsibility, and onboard leadership
 • Why crew safety depends on culture, training, and accountability

Guest:
Chris O’Flaherty, The Nautical Institute

Host:
Karine Rayson, The Crew Coach
https://www.thecrewcoach.com

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