Getting your crew to their vessel, wherever it docks
Marine Travel Management
At Wayte Travel Management, our marine team books marine travel and plans crew rotations around vessel movements, then reroutes crew when plans change, day or night.
Because we know that, in the maritime sector, the vessel sets the timetable and the airlines have to fit around it. A vessel delayed by weather, held at anchor or diverted to another port can change a whole rotation overnight.
With more than 45 years in business travel and serious buying power behind us, we work to get your joining crew to the vessel and your leaving crew home without incident.
Marine and seafarer airfares explained
Marine fares (also called seafarer fares) are special airline fares for crew travelling to join or leave a vessel. They’re built around the way crew actually travel, and they can make a real difference to the cost and flexibility of a crew rotation.
Compared with a standard Economy ticket, marine fares usually offer:
- A larger baggage allowance for workwear, tools and personal kit
- The flexibility to change or cancel when the vessel’s schedule moves, often at little or no cost
- One-way pricing, because joiners and leavers rarely need to go both ways
- No advance purchase restrictions, which matters when a crew rotation is confirmed at short notice
Terms vary from airline to airline and route to route and, of course, not every airline offers them. Your dedicated travel consultant knows which carriers do, what each one allows and which fare suits the crew rotation in front of them, so you’re not paying for flexibility you won’t use, or going without it when you need it.
Marine fares are available for anyone visiting a vessel with the correct documentation.
Meet the Wayte marine travel team
Our marine department is led by Rob Massey, who joined Wayte Travel Management at 18 as a trainee consultant and has been with us for more than 15 years.
The marine travel team gives crewing managers the reassurance of dealing with people who understand the sector, how vessel schedules move and what a crew rotation needs to run smoothly.
The team works alongside our wider operation, including our 24/7 out-of-hours service and our group travel specialists, so a crew will never be left stranded overnight, waiting for an office to open.
Managing crew rotations and vessel movements
A crew rotation means getting joiners to the vessel and leavers home again, often on the same day, from different countries and against a schedule that can move by the hour.
Your Wayte marine travel consultant plans each change around the vessel’s expected arrival. That means flights timed to meet the berthing window and ground transfers from the airport to the port, with hotels near the port or airport if crew arrive early or the vessel runs late. When crew members are joining from several countries at once, we coordinate every itinerary so they arrive together, wherever they start from.
When the ship’s plans change, ours do too. If a vessel is delayed or diverted, we rework the flights, extend or move the hotel rooms and rebook the transfers, using the flexibility built into marine fares to keep costs down.
Our dedicated group travel specialists manage a whole crew as one coordinated booking. Every itinerary also goes to the traveller’s Wayte Travel Companion App, so crew can see their flights, hotel and transfers in one place, with live updates if anything changes.
Services our marine clients use most
Marine and offshore clients draw on everything we offer, but these three do most of the work.
Air Travel
Fares held, seats sorted and changes handled, plus unrivalled support, even out of hours.
Hotel Booking & Accommodation
Rates are negotiated in advance, so you’re not paying the walk-in price.
Risk Management & Duty of Care
A 24/7 team who know where your people are and what to do when plans fall apart.
Marine travel support, 24/7
Ships don’t stop for the weekend and neither do crew rotations. A vessel can arrive early on a Sunday, or a late connection can leave a joiner stuck in a transit airport over Saturday night.
During office hours, our marine clients have a direct number for their specialist travel consultant, so there’s no switchboard and no explaining the job from scratch.
Outside office hours, our UK-based out-of-hours team takes over, 24 hours a day, with the booking information and your crew’s details already in front of them. They can rebook flights, find a room near the port or airport and rearrange transfers in the middle of the night.
If something more serious happens, such as airspace closing or disruption near a port, every booking we make is logged in our Duty of Care Portal. We can quickly see which of your crew are affected and help get them home, which supports your duty of care to people working a long way from base.
Documentation and crew visa requirements
No marine traveller should be turned away at a check-in desk or a transit airport because of missing paperwork.
Crew often need specific documents to travel, such as a Seaman’s Book and a letter of guarantee from their employer or manning agent, as well as transit or crew visas for the countries they pass through.
When we quote for a crew rotation, we’ll provide the relevant links to official advice about your entry and transit requirements. We can also give you checklists for the documents your crew should carry. That gives your crewing team time to get everything in order before anyone leaves home.
We don’t issue visas or documents ourselves. They come from relevant authorities, employers and agents. What we can do is spot the gaps early and advise you what’s needed to help avoid hold-ups at the border.
Travel reporting for marine operators
Marine travel spend is hard to see clearly when it’s spread across hundreds of crew movements, dozens of vessels and several currencies.
Wayte Travel Analytix brings it together. Using fields you define, such as vessel, rotation or project, you can see spend by vessel, crew member and port. This means you can work out what each crew rotation really costs once flights, hotels and transfers are added up.
Data from different offices and currencies is combined in one place. Your reports show how much was booked at short notice, which helps when budgeting for the next rotation.
Unused flight credit is tracked too, so a cancelled crew rotation doesn’t become money written off.
Marine travel management FAQs
Do you offer 24/7 support?
Yes. Our UK-based out-of-hours team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to rebook flights, find rooms and rearrange transfers when a crew rotation is disrupted. Learn more on our Duty of Care page.
Can you arrange transfers to the port?
Yes. We can book transfers from the airport to the port and from the vessel back to the airport or hotel, timed around the expected arrival time and, of course, changeable if the vessel is delayed.
What baggage allowance do marine fares carry?
Usually considerably more than a standard Economy Class ticket, often an extra checked bag or a higher weight limit, to cover workwear, tools and personal kit. Allowances vary by airline and route, so we confirm the exact allowance on every booking and flag anything that might need extra baggage arranged.
Do you handle multi-nationality crew rotations?
Yes. Crew joining one vessel often fly in from several countries, so we plan each itinerary to arrive in time for the same berthing window. We’ll also flag the visa and transit requirements for each crew member’s route and give your crewing team one point of contact for the whole change.
Can you rebook a crew rotation at short notice?
Yes. If a vessel’s schedule moves, call your business travel consultant on their direct number, or our out-of-hours team at night or at the weekend. We’ll rework flights, hotels and transfers around the new timing, and marine fares usually make those changes far cheaper, easier and more flexible than buying new tickets.
What is a marine fare and who qualifies?
A marine fare (or seafarer fare) is a special airline fare for crew travelling to join or leave a vessel, usually with a bigger baggage allowance, more flexible changes and one-way pricing. It’s generally available only to marine travellers and offshore workers travelling for work. Because of this, airlines may ask for proof such as a Seaman’s Book or a letter from the employer. Terms vary by airline, so we’ll confirm what applies when we book.
Talk to our marine travel team
Tell us about your fleet, your crew rotations and where your current travel arrangements fall short. Rob and the marine team will show you how we’d handle your crew rotations, with no obligation to sign anything.