In the Yachting Industry?
For companies in the yachting industry, our maritime attorneys provide expert legal guidance on yacht listing agreements, commission agreements, procuring cause disputes, yacht construction repair or refit agreements, chartering a foreign flagged vessel in EU/Non EU waters and charter agreements.
Chartering:
Chartering put simply is the ‘hiring out’ of vessels. Chartering arrangements are entered into by boat owners running a chartering business, or by boat owners entering into short term occasional charter arrangements to help with the cost of their boats. The two most common types of charter are bare boat and skippered charter. If you are considering chartering your vessel contact Kokkinakis Law to discuss early considerations. We strongly advise entering into a contract with intended charterers to manage the owner/charterer relationship which deals with any potential conflict arising.
If you are an existing charter business, or perhaps you are looking to set up a charter company, contact Kokkinakis Law; we would be happy to guide you through the process, from incorporating the company (company formation) to offering advice on joint ventures, shareholders agreements and partnership arrangements.
Commercial contracts & agreements:
You may be a business owner, a marina operator, a yacht broker, or other form of marine business. We offer a “Legal MOT Service” for businesses to review and update their current terms of business. Make sure your terms of business and associated documents reflect the business you are operating and are in-line with current law. This will protect your business and minimize any future exposed risk. The types of commercial contracts may include (not exhaustive list):
- Letters of engagement
- Licenses
- Management agreements
- Terms & conditions of business
- Website – privacy policy and terms & conditions of use
- Sale & purchase contracts
- Joint venture / Shareholder agreements
Yacht fractional ownership:
This allows individuals to enjoy the lifestyle and use of yachts with perceived yacht ownership status without the expensive cash outlay, and responsibilities of ongoing operation and maintenance costs which are commonly associated with buying a boat. There are different types and various schemes operating as fractional ownership’s, but the basic concept is that participants obtain a percentage share of a yacht. Shares are sold to individual owners referred to as ‘fractional owners’ who enjoy priorities and privileges; such as priority access on holidays to use the boat and income sharing. Typically, a company manages the asset on behalf of the owners, who pay monthly/annual fees for the management plus variable (e.g. per-hour, per-day) use fees. For rapidly-depreciating assets, the management company may sell the asset and distribute the proceeds back to the owners, who can then claim a capital loss and optionally purchase a fraction of a new asset.
Yacht syndicates:
Increasing in popularity as recreational boaters elect to share the ownership of their boat between a number of syndicate members. Such form of ownership can help to ease the burden of the cost of purchase and on-going maintenance. Syndicate ownership of a boat can be between family, friends, sailing club members or strangers. Whatever the constitution of the members, it pays to enter into a written agreement setting out rights and responsibilities.
