Camilla Rothe, the thirty-year-old captain at the helm of a 44-meter vessel who preaches seriousness and safety

Camilla Rothe is a sailing yacht captain. An Italian-British couple, she moved to Italy at 16. She grew up passionate about sailing and quickly became an expert. While working on the dock, she met her first employer, who offered her a job as a deckhand. Today, at just 30 years old, she captains a 44-meter sailing yacht. In her interview with SUPER YACHT 24, she offers a candid glimpse into the world of sailing.

Captain, you've had several experiences on Perini Navi vessels. We can't help but ask your opinion on what happened to the Bayesian... 

"In my main experience with a Perini, I worked for the owner both on board and at the Perini shipyard in Viareggio, the latter experience allowing me to gain insight into some of the shipyard's dynamics. In my opinion, the Bayesian incident represents the culmination of several issues. Until we have an expert report, we won't be able to determine what actually went wrong. However, we can offer a few considerations.

The failure of a single component should not in itself compromise the safety of a vessel. When an accident occurs, it means that multiple levels of safety have been compromised. If a vessel sinks, it means that several unfortunate events have occurred, resulting in an extremely serious and rare accident. Perini ships are designed with multiple levels of safety. While individual prototype systems may inherently present vulnerabilities, the alignment of such "holes" is extremely rare. These are complex yachts that require in-depth knowledge of both routine and backup systems.. Personally, I really love the unique features of Perini yachts. The skills required of a captain are vast; therefore, a propensity and passion for the job are needed to develop specialized skills to manage the technological complexity, increasingly present on modern yachts. This too can sometimes constitute a significant risk factor, especially in emergency situations.

Leaving the Bayesian: Is there a general problem of commander preparation? 

The role of captain requires many skills: legal (national and international), navigation and meteorological, technical and maintenance, safety and stability, seamanship including search and rescue, emergency procedures, radio and satellite communications, maneuvering, environmental protection, and, last but not least, leadership and customer service, including travel agent skills! It must be recognized that having such a broad range of skills doesn't make it possible to specialize in every aspect. The nautical industry faces a major challenge in terms of general captain training. and the specific training required. Beyond technological evolution, personnel management is also very different and constantly changing. Training a captain requires a delicate balance between how much one can realistically invest in training, both financially and in terms of time, and how much would be optimal. Furthermore, yachting training is, in most cases, the responsibility of the staff. Mandatory training alone can be very expensive: in England, it easily reaches €40.000. I personally also participate in training courses beyond the mandatory courses, and I recognize that travel, accommodation, and vacation costs must be added to the cost of the courses.

The micro-company nature, given that each yacht is a separate business and there's rarely a fleet, limits staff's opportunities for professional growth within the company. This leads to short-term contracts and also discourages employers from investing in staff over the long term.

 But if something happens, there's the issue of liability: how is it possible that he wasn't warned? 

It's certainly taken into consideration. Working on board involves constantly seeking a balance between providing good service and respecting safety regulations and the marine environment, which can sometimes be perceived as limiting guests' enjoyment. For example, sometimes we're asked to carry more people than permitted. These requests, which sometimes unknowingly require a breach of regulations, can be complicated to manage when they accumulate, especially where regulations have 'grey areas'. Sailing while providing a hotel and travel service means constantly conducting an 'unwritten' risk assessment, involving numerous considerations and factors. A captain's judgment is therefore a very important aspect.

Even construction sites have their share of responsibility…

Shipyards are also under pressure from both commercial and regulatory perspectives. Yacht construction allows the end customer highly personal choices and modifications that can be difficult to regulate or test, and can therefore compromise the vessel's operability and, indeed, safety. This is a side effect of hyper-customization: a factor that makes the yachting world so special and unlike any other industry, and therefore to be appreciated, but handled with caution.

Finally, let us consider that the control bodies are also privatized, and therefore subject to economic and profit factors, in addition to the control of standards".

Does the nautical market place too much emphasis on the interests of shipowners?  

Shipowners are the end customers, so their interests are the foundation of the industry. The key here is to recognize that ensuring their safety and managing operations professionally is the very definition of 'serving their best interests.' This can be done by avoiding tragedies, avoiding minor unforeseen incidents during operation, or avoiding unexpected costs through good preventative maintenance.

So how can we improve this delicate balance?

It's obviously a complex process. It must be acknowledged that there are already some very effective efforts underway, such as new training initiatives promoted by shipyards and trade associations. Some associations collect data on accidents or near misses and disseminate it to prevent similar errors from happening again. I hope we can develop a truly common strategy. Improving knowledge and accessibility within the industry, along with better training for shipboard personnel, can yield significant results.

Even shipyards, having experienced rapid growth and evolution in yachts, are beginning to implement large-scale corporate processes. In every context, there is room for improvement in the structure of collaboration between departments and the introduction of increasingly higher quality control standards.

This boom period and, unfortunately, also the recent tragedy, have contributed to making it a little better known this market and perhaps we can hope for an improvement?

 "Absolutely: the numbers are increasing, the industry is becoming more structured, and it's starting to be introduced as a subject in nautical schools. The industry is very young, but I see there's interest in working towards ever-higher quality standards and more accessible and standardized professional development paths. We must take advantage of this opportunity to further stimulate improvement."

What other aspects could be improved?

I've noticed that the perception of a captain's professionalism isn't easily measurable. The end customer's evaluation is, rightly, dependent on the vacation experience: the service received and the emotions a crew can inspire when offering a vacation on a yacht. The safety and technical aspects behind it aren't visible until something goes wrong. This is understandable, but the difficulty of monitoring onboard standards and improving training accordingly must be taken into account.

Will there ever come a time when the shipowner will have to make fair demands on the crew?  

In one of my most challenging experiences, when I asked about crew rest requirements, a shipowner replied that I wouldn't advance my career by talking about rest hours. He didn't consider that failure to enforce crew rest regulations hinders physical and mental recovery, thus jeopardizing everyone's safety. In situations like this, my job is to demonstrate that the limits I impose are in the end customer's best interests, even if at times, in the short term, it may seem like a curtailment of their vacation. With the right support from all stakeholders in the industry, I'm confident these things will become accepted as 'normal.'"

How do you manage the psychological pressure that a shipowner can exert on the captain to get as much as possible from the crew? 

It's a real challenge! The constant contact with shipowners and guests, when you're away from home for long periods without ever being able to unplug, creates a significant level of stress that is completely contained and never exposed. To better manage the situation, I've learned to plan for various scenarios at the beginning of the season, not compromising on certain essential aspects, such as respecting rest periods between shifts, adhering to certain safety standards, and paying attention to the marine environment. This way of operating isn't yet culturally widespread, but as a captain, I believe everyone's safety should be the priority.

She obtained her qualifications in England and works mainly in Italy: what differences do you think there are between the training courses in the two countries? 

In England, the process for obtaining a master's degree is more standardized on a bureaucratic level. There is a well-defined path in terms of courses to follow, and while these are by no means cheap, they are relatively quick to complete. In Italy, the process is decidedly more complex and fragmented. There is no clear and defined process; instead, there is a system of courses and exams, the organization of which varies depending on the different Port Authorities. From a qualitative standpoint, I would say that the qualifications can be considered essentially equivalent, so much so that when I had to convert my English qualification to an Italian one, despite some bureaucratic delays, it was deemed fully valid and equivalent.

In the past, Italian recreational boating qualifications were obtained based on self-certified onboard experience. I have great respect for seafarers with decades of experience, but it must be acknowledged that the profession has evolved exponentially. Captains in their role receive little feedback, so to remain self-critical and up-to-date, attending courses is essential.

But isn't there a dialogue between you? From what we know, in addition to the association meetings, the dialogue is ongoing thanks to shared chats...

"Yes, certainly, although it doesn't always happen in a structured way. In addition to association meetings, there's ongoing discussion through online chat groups. That said, I often find that in these exchanges, there's a resistance to being completely open for fear of being judged negatively. The courses, though often too short, allow for the transfer of solid skills among colleagues."

Your words clearly demonstrate your strong commitment to safety. Is there anything in your experience that has encouraged you? 

"At the beginning of my career, I worked on English training boats for a nonprofit foundation that taught sailing to children with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Management came from above and had very strict rules and protocols that required specific programs and actions based on the children's behavior, on-shore activities, and disciplinary systems, as well as extreme attention to safety. Moreover, the foundation, being nonprofit, was free of conflicts of interest: for me, it was a great learning experience. That situation isn't transferable to our more business-oriented world, but you can still learn a lot from observing it. It was an experience that gave me a solid foundation in terms of principles and management skills."

You've been commander for seven years. How do you assess your experience and what are your plans for the future? 

Over the years, I've held roles of increasing responsibility, first as an officer and then as captain on large yachts. What I've always done, even when I was already captain, is to always try to prepare myself for new potential challenges: whenever I found myself managing a larger vessel, I'd spend some time as first officer alongside captains of vessels similar to the ones I would later lead. Currently, while still captain, I'm overseeing the sale of a 44-meter vessel, waiting for a new job opportunity that will keep me closer to home. I no longer feel the need to travel the world like I used to. At the same time, I'm pursuing a degree in naval surveying with the aim of working more and more on land, perhaps in the construction and refit sectors, two fields I'm very passionate about. These are activities I've already experienced on the Perini 'Dahlak', of which I was captain. That project involved a major repainting and maintenance project for the mast and the steering system. sailing equipment as well as a complete refit of the communications and audio/video system. The project was carried out in collaboration with the Lusben shipyard in Viareggio. It was a demanding job with no safety nets, but thanks to the excellent team involved and the trust placed in me, everything went according to plan, on time and on budget. This project concluded a long period of about four and a half years spent traveling the world; a truly beautiful, intense, and demanding period. Subsequently, I chose a less demanding, but equally stimulating, assignment. Now my goal is to dedicate myself more to my work as a surveyor and trainer. Since the age of 18, I have been a sailing instructor (RYA) and now also an IMO instructor. In the training field, my main goal is to convey concrete knowledge and strong motivation to work safely and professionally to future captains, internalizing the 'why', thus contributing to an increasingly safe and professional development, and an increasingly 'positive' culture.

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