Terms of Service

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Crewfarer (“Crewfarer,” “we,” “us”). By creating an account or using crewfarer.com and related services (the “Service”), you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old (or the legal working age in your jurisdiction, if higher) and able to form a binding contract. If you use the Service on behalf of a company or vessel, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization to these Terms.

3. What Crewfarer is — and is not

Crewfarer is a self-service professional networking platform, job board, and advertising venue for the maritime industry, with social features. Users build or upload their own profiles and résumés, share posts and updates, and follow one another; crew apply to job listings themselves; employers and vessels post their own listings; and maritime businesses advertise their own services through our advertising hub. Crewfarer provides the tools and the venue — users control their own content and their own applications.

Crewfarer is not a recruitment, placement, manning, or crewing agency, and is not an employer, agent, or party to any engagement between users. We do not place seafarers in employment; we do not create, submit, or forward applications or résumés on any user's behalf; we do not screen or select candidates for employers, negotiate or broker engagements, or charge any fee that is contingent on a user being hired. Fees are charged only for access to platform features (such as membership, listings, advertising, and optional identity verification), never as a placement fee. Hiring decisions, the terms of any engagement, and compliance with applicable maritime labour and employment laws are the sole responsibility of the users involved.

4. Your account

You must provide accurate, current information and keep it up to date. You are responsible for safeguarding your password and for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly of any unauthorized use. One person or organization per account; do not share accounts or create accounts for others without authorization.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• post false, misleading, unlawful, discriminatory, harassing, or infringing content;
• impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity, credentials, or certifications;
• post job listings you are not authorized to post, or fake or fraudulent listings;
• solicit fees from crew for placement, or engage in trafficking, forced labour, or any exploitative practice;
• scrape, harvest, reverse-engineer, overload, or interfere with the Service;
• use the Service to send spam or to collect others' data without consent.

We may remove content and suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or the law, at our discretion.

6. Your content

You retain ownership of the content you post (profile details, posts, messages, reviews, images). You grant Crewfarer a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, display, and distribute that content as needed to operate and promote the Service. You are responsible for your content and confirm you have the rights to post it. Reviews and ratings must be honest and based on genuine experience.

7. Jobs, hiring, and verification

Crewfarer is a venue to connect users; we do not guarantee jobs, candidates, income, or the accuracy of any listing or profile, and we do not vet employers or crew beyond any optional identity check. Always do your own due diligence before accepting or offering work, sharing personal information, or transferring money.

The verified badge reflects an identity-verification process (a government-ID and selfie check performed by our provider) confirming a user is a real, unique person. It is not a criminal background check, reference check, credential verification, or a guarantee of any user's character, qualifications, or conduct.

8. Payments, fees, and renewals

• Paid features include memberships, job listings, business advertising, and identity verification. Prices are shown at checkout. Applicable taxes may be added.
• Payments are processed by our payment provider, Stripe. By paying, you also agree to Stripe's terms. We do not store full card details.
• Subscriptions auto-renew for successive periods at the then-current price until you cancel. You can cancel anytime from your account before the next renewal; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period.
• Refunds: except where required by law, fees are non-refundable, including for partially used periods. One-time fees (e.g. listings, verification) are non-refundable once the service has been provided or the check initiated.
• We may change prices or features on prospective notice.

9. Third-party services

The Service relies on third parties (e.g. Stripe for payments and identity verification, and providers for hosting, image storage, and email). Your use of those features may be subject to their terms. We are not responsible for third-party services or any external sites linked from the Service.

10. Intellectual property

The Service, including its software, design, and trademarks (including the Crewfarer name and logo), is owned by Crewfarer and protected by law. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to use the Service for its intended purpose. No other rights are granted.

11. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that any listing, profile, or user is legitimate.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Crewfarer and its owners will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service or your dealings with other users. Our total liability for any claim will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or USD 100.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Crewfarer harmless from claims, damages, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your content, your use of the Service, your dealings with other users, or your violation of these Terms or the law.

14. Termination

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if you violate these Terms or to protect the Service or its users. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (e.g. content license, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnification) will survive.

15. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of [STATE/COUNTRY], without regard to conflict-of-law rules. [Insert your chosen dispute-resolution mechanism — e.g. courts of [venue], or binding arbitration and any class-action waiver. This section should be finalized with legal counsel.]

16. Changes and contact

We may update these Terms; we'll post the new version with an updated date and, for material changes, provide reasonable notice. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept them. Questions? Contact support@crewfarer.com.