Yacht Agent / Port Agent
A yacht agent sorts things out ashore for the crew. You book berths, clear the yacht in and out, arrange fuel and provisions, handle crew paperwork and get guests from the airport to the passerelle on time. The best agents know every harbour master, customs officer and supplier in their patch, and they answer the phone at midnight.
The jobWhat fills the day
Most agency work is logistics and paperwork. Captains and pursers send requests by WhatsApp and email: a berth in Portofino for three nights, a fuel delivery at 07:00, crew sign-on letters, a spare part air-freighted from Fort Lauderdale. You quote, book and chase suppliers, then invoice through a disbursement account with an agency fee on top. In the Mediterranean that also covers transit logs, Schengen crew movements, customs status and the VAT rules that decide whether a charter can start in a given country. Mistakes cost the yacht money, so accuracy counts for more than charm.
The workload follows the yachts. From June to September an office in Antibes, Palma or Porto Cervo might be looking after twenty yachts at once, and the phone rings from 07:00 to midnight. Charter turnarounds and owner arrivals are the pressure points: flowers, cars, restaurant tables and helicopter transfers, all confirmed hours ahead. Big events such as the Monaco Grand Prix or the Cannes Film Festival bring extra security and berthing problems. Winter is quieter, with shipyard work, accounts and planning. Agents in the Caribbean, Maldives or Middle East work the opposite calendar.
Agencies hire more former crew than anyone else. A stewardess with three seasons behind her knows what a chief stew needs before she asks, and an ex-deckhand understands berthing, fuel and tender logistics. Languages are essential: French on the Riviera, Italian in Sardinia and Liguria, Spanish in the Balearics, plus fluent English. People from hotels, travel and freight forwarding also get hired. Most agencies want EU right to work, a driving licence and someone who stays calm with a captain on one line and a customs officer on the other.
Juniors start on the desk handling provisioning and transport, then take on their own yachts as lead agent. After five years or so you might run a port office or a regional network, with staff and supplier contracts under you. Some agents move into charter management, yacht operations or crew management, where their contacts and knowledge of the paperwork carry straight over. A few set up their own agency in a single harbour. That works if the relationships with the marina and the local authorities are already yours.
Skills employers look for
- Port clearance and customs
- VAT and charter regulations
- Supplier negotiation
- Disbursement accounting
- Guest logistics and transfers
- French, Italian or Spanish
- Calm under pressure
A working dayCharter season Saturday, agency office, Porto Cervo, Sardinia
Reads overnight messages from four yachts. A 62m arriving from Corsica needs her berth confirmed and arrival paperwork lodged before noon.
Meets a fuel truck on the quay for a 45m motor yacht and checks the meter readings with the engineer before signing.
Back at the desk, chasing the florist and fish supplier for a charter turnaround and updating the disbursement sheets.
Meets the arriving captain at the marina office with crew lists, insurance documents and the harbour master's forms.
Lunch at the desk with the phone face up.
Drives to Olbia airport to greet charter guests, loads luggage into two cars and confirms the tender pick-up time with the bosun.
Books dinner for ten and a boat transfer for the guests, then arranges a doctor's appointment for a deckhand with a hand injury.
Quick dinner with a colleague, then hands non-urgent requests to the late duty agent.
The chief stew calls about a guest birthday tomorrow. Orders a cake from a pastry shop that opens at 06:00 and arranges delivery to the tender.
Pay by experienceAnnual salary. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
Many agencies pay a season-end bonus or a share of agency fees, and long summer hours are usually repaid with time off in winter. Monaco and the French Riviera pay more than Spain or Italy. See the Yacht & Crew Management salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Qualifications
Must have
- Full driving licence
Gets you hired
- STCW Basic Safety
- Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO) course
- Fluent second European language
- Basic bookkeeping or accounting software
Where it leadsA typical career path
Yacht & Crew Management jobsOpen now on SuperyachtRoles.com
Questions crew ask
Do I need to have worked on yachts?
It helps a lot. Most agencies prefer two or three seasons as crew because you already understand what captains and pursers need. People from hotels, travel agencies or freight forwarding also get hired if they speak the local language.
What hours do agents work in summer?
Long ones. Expect to be reachable from early morning to late evening, with on-call duty shared across the office. Most agencies make up for it with a quieter winter and extra leave.
How does an agency earn its money?
Agencies charge a fee per port call or per service, plus a handling fee on disbursements such as fuel, berths and provisions. Some also earn from supplier arrangements. Your bonus may be tied to the fees from the yachts you look after.
Which ports have the most agency jobs?
Antibes, Monaco, Palma, Porto Cervo, Naples and the Italian Riviera hire the most in the Mediterranean. Outside the Med, look at Fort Lauderdale, St Maarten, Antigua, the Maldives and Dubai.