Nautilus International
Nautilus · Founded 2009 · London (UK) + Rotterdam (Netherlands) + Basel (Switzerland) · United Kingdom
- Membership scope
- ~20,000 members across UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland maritime professional roles — officers, cadets, VTS operators, port pilots, and shore-based maritime professionals.
- Key CBA framework
- UK Merchant Navy Officers Federation agreement; KVNR-Nautilus NL Framework; SRSV Rhine agreements
- Website
- www.nautilusint.org
What this union does
Nautilus International was formed in 2009 by the merger of the UK's National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers (NUMAST) with the Dutch officers' union Nautilus NL, and in 2011 added the Swiss inland-shipping union Schweizerische Rhein Schiffahrts-Verband. It is the largest maritime-professional union in Europe and represents ~20,000 members across shipping, VTS, port pilotage, and shore-based maritime professions. The union's core value for its officer members is the individual legal-representation service: incident inquiries (following a grounding, collision, or MARPOL breach), manning-agency contract disputes, unfair-dismissal claims, and pension advice. Nautilus lawyers routinely represent members before the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch, the Dutch OvV, and the Swiss Rhine Navigation Central Commission. For UK Merchant Navy officers in particular, Nautilus membership is close to universal — the union is the primary channel through which UK-flag seafarer employment law is negotiated with employers.
Contact route
https://www.nautilusint.org/en/who-we-help — help pathway; 24/7 legal helpline for members.