Superyachts: Charter, Management & Operations

Our team advises individuals, family offices / private client lawyers, managers and brokers on a broad range of issues arising out of the charter and operation of yachts and superyachts including:

• Setting-up charter businesses (from the viewpoint of both owners and managers)

• Commercial vs. Private Registration (and related VAT and flag issues)

• Occasional charter (including under YET and Temporary Admission)

• Central agency agreements and charter management contracts

• Technical certifications and management issues

• MYBA issues from brokers (including requirements for access to Yachtfolio)

• Appointment of fiscal representatives for EU VAT accounting

• Charter licensing and brokerage issues

• Incidents arising during charter (from the viewpoint of both guests and owners)

• Cancellation issues, whether COVID or otherwise

Recent Examples

• Setting-up a client’s newly acquired series-model Sunseeker as a charter yacht, ready for operations in France and Italy. Our advice included appointment of fiscal agents for VAT reporting and central agency issues

• Drafting a charter broker’s standard terms and conditions for their central agencies and their commission-sharing arrangements for local sub-contractors (in Monaco and the United States)

• Acting for a MYBA-registered charter broker in its dealings with MYBA in respect of access to the “Yachtfolio” platform

• Advising a charter guest after a member of their party was injured on-board

• Advising an owner in negotiations with their managers on the terms of their commercial management agreements, including liability and reporting issues and scope of service issues

• Advising a charter broker on the impact of booked charters, after the yacht’s owning company was deleted from its local register for breaches of filing requirements

• Acting for one of the largest managers in the Mediterranean to redraft their standard management agreements for technical, commercial and refit project services

• Updating the manufacturer's warranty for two of the largest high-volume yacht builders and assisting with revisions to the agreements for their global distributor network

• Acting for the designer of an innovative, foiling and non-foiling trimaran, including drafting of business and IPR agreements and using our contacts to assist with the designs commercial exploitation