The 7 Steps to Charter Your Yacht
On one hand chartering your yacht can, at least, offset some of the running costs, so it’s an attractive prospect, but from an owner's perspective, changing to commercial status may create more paperwork and more rules to adhere to which can detract from the joys of yacht ownership, making the earning of the additional income from chartering your yacht undesirable. To make chartering your yacht work for you requires some careful thinking and planning. What we do is put your thoughts on a piece of paper and create an educated business plan. We guide you through the limitations and compromises you will need to make so you can make an educated decision! We tell you the whole story!
The 7 Steps That We Will Guide You Through Are:
Charter Location
Consider where you want to make the yacht available for charter. Commercial yachts can charter in most locations worldwide, however national restrictions may prohibit yachts from carrying out charters in their waters unless they meet special conditions and hold a special license.
That is the case for Greece. Octana will advise on what is needed to legally charter your boat in Greece and avoid penalties.
Company Formation
Once you have decided what type of boat you will purchase and where the boat is going to be based according to the activity (day charter, weekly charter, etc) it is time to decide the type of company you will create. A commercial boat needs to belong to a company. At this point, income and other tax considerations will kick in. Once again, we can assist you with making the right decisions.
Yacht Acquisition
Now that you have a company, you can acquire the boat. Of course, the first thing to do would be to insure it for the potential commercial use. Even if you already own a boat you will need to transfer it to the company, but this may not always be straightforward. Here the VAT considerations are important, and you will need some expert advice in avoiding any loopholes.
Flag & Registration
Once the boat is acquired by the company it is time to register it commercially. According to the main area where you will operate, as well as the cruising areas you will wish to cover, the size and type of the boat you will decide on the flag of the boat. The flag choice will determine the coding of the boat. A surveyor from a proper authority will tell you if you need to make any changes to your boat and equipment. The commercial registration of the boat can be daunting due to the bureaucracy and the intricate procedures it can involve. So it is best left to the specialist, that we can introduce you to.
Charter License
Now that the boat is registered you will need to acquire a charter license for the area that you will be chartering the boat. It is the charter license that will dictate, how many people can be on board, can sleep on board, where you can travel, how much crew (if any) you need etc. You need to know that the license is country specific (license for Greece for example) and if you wish to charter in other countries you will need to make certain that you abide with the national rules and charter requirements. Taxation can be an issue in this case.
Crewing
If your boat is a crewed one, now is the time to finalize the recruitment process. The charter license will tell you what the minimum mandatory manning requirements are. It will also tell you what the qualifications of the crew need to be. Apart from their qualifications there are other considerations, like the languages that are spoken on a charter boat. The more the better. Usually, the law requires more qualifications from those who perform a commercial activity than those who do the same thing for pleasure. The crew needs to be properly insured according to state laws. For the charter operation of the boat, you will most probably need more crew than the minimum mandatory, as the work of the crew is very demanding. You need to remember that charter is service providing, and the boat is as good as its crew. The best boat with a bad crew will never be successful. So, choosing the right crew is of the utmost importance.
Operation
Now you have a licensed charter boat with a crew. It is time to see how you can get the most out of them. You will need to find the proper company to support you with the marketing and promotion of your boat. A good charter broker will assist you in this process. From the proper photographer to the stylist for the photo and video shooting to the boat shows, platforms and sites the boat will need to appear all this fall under his jurisdiction. There are many channels of promotion, but some are practically obligatory. With all the complex areas that need to be considered, chartering your yacht is not a quick process. Octana would suggest you allow between one and two months to get everything set up. Our team is here to help make the step into commercial waters an easy one. We can start by drafting your business plan and taking it from there!
