Seamester Risk Management

The Seamester experience is designed to be adventurous, so to say that there are no risks would be misleading. However, awareness of these inherent risks is the key to developing the strategies we use to manage them. Managing risk is a significant responsibility and is something we take seriously. Naturally, our staff plays an integral role in our risk management strategy. Most team members are multi-talented, combining professional training and practical expertise with the more traditional university, graduate, and post-graduate degree education. Our staff includes U.S. Coast Guard, and MCA licensed captains, marine scientists, oceanographers, medically trained personnel, and PADI scuba instructors. The Student to staff ratio is typically 4:1, providing close interaction and individual attention. Along with the majority of the world's highest quality yachts, Seamester schooners proudly fly the red ensign. The U.K. Ship Registry is renowned for its high international standards of maritime safety, and each vessel undergoes a thorough annual inspection to maintain its classification. In addition to our standard safety equipment, such as personal flotation devices, tethers and harnesses, EPIRBS, immersion suits, and liferafts, the ability to communicate effectively is essential in mitigating risk. We have an established communication protocol, and utilizing satellite connectivity, our teams can communicate by voice or data anywhere on the planet. To add additional support, we partner with an international emergency response firm to provide integrated medical assistance for the remote environments we operate in. Our partner provides us world-class medical advice, security services, and evacuation coordination anywhere in the world. Risk management is a partnership, so we rely on our students taking an active role in maintaining their own safety. Taught by our staff, and then reinforced through practical application, students employ safe practices during everyday activities, and through repetition, these practices become second nature. Throughout the voyage, students are expected to exhibit good judgment, and display appropriate leadership behavior, in addition to developing proficient risk management skills themselves. Through experience, we've learned that the most successful semesters are those when everyone aboard is fully committed to creating a supportive and safe environment for all.