The Advertising Standards Bureau has upheld a complaint about a marine insurance advertisement that it says exploits the plight of asylum seekers.

The bureau found Nautilus Marine Insurance Agency breached section 2.1 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics prohibiting discrimination against a person or section of the community.

It found the ad – published in the June-July edition of Insurance & Risk Professional magazine –­­ was “exploitative of the real and confronting issues around migration and was a demeaning and degrading portrayal”.

It showed a picture of a crowded Asian commuter ferry above photographs of Nautilus staff.

Alongside the images was the slogan “There’s boat people and… there’s boat people”.

Nautilus agreed that while the image could be misconstrued it clearly depicted a daily commuter ferry and carried “no reference to any particular persons or region”.

The bureau noted in its ruling that the insurer had already volunteered not to use the offending advertisement again. Nautilus did not respond to requests for comment from insuranceNEWS.com.au.