Nautilus UK, the professional organisation for some 18,000 Merchant Navy ships’ officers and other maritime professionals, has begun recruiting in the professional large yacht sector.

Under various names, Nautilus UK has been in business since 1857 when it was founded as the Mercantile Marine Service Association to serve ship masters and other deck officers in the Merchant Navy.

In the last century and a half, it has adapted itself to a membership base that now also includes ships’ engineers and communication officers, cadets (officer trainees) and shipping industry personnel, such as marine pilots, vessel traffic services operators (similar to air traffic control), harbourmasters, oil-rig and shore-based staff.

Nautilus UK is a member of the Nautilus Federation with Nautilus NL, which represents Netherlands-based seafarers. Nautilus UK is affiliated to the Trades Unions Congress, the European Transport Workers’ Federation and the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

The head office is in London, and Nautilus UK also has a regional office and a welfare complex in Wallasey on Merseyside.