As the world becomes more litigious a number of shipyards have changed the way they work, facilitating subcontractors to carry out work, and it’s not always immediately obvious. Instead of a yacht owner contracting directly with the shipyard for all works, some...
News & Insights
Malta Social Security Rates 2023
EU Regulation 883/2004 states that seafarers who are either citizens or residents of the EU/EEA or Switzerland and, who are employed on board a vessel flying the Malta flag, must be insured under Malta’s Social Security system. For non-EU citizens/residents, there is...
US owners charter their yachts in Europe?
Many US yacht owners want to cross over to Europe to enjoy one or more seasons in the cruising grounds offered within the Mediterranean. If these owners wish to charter their yachts during this period in EU waters, this is certainly possible, but a number of important...
Bruce Maltwood interviewed by Onboard Online
In an interview with Onboard Online, Bruce Maltwood, Director at Sarnia Yachts, discusses the developing complexities of a fiduciary business operating in the superyacht industry, what actions owners and charterers need to explore post-Brexit and how Sarnia...
VAT and Charter Operations
Where charter vessels encounter problems from fiscal and customs authorities we see that these problems have inevitably arisen as a result of reasons, which can be easily avoided. Whilst part of the problem is the varying rules and interpretations between member...
Thinking About Chartering your Yacht?
As the new season approaches you might find yourself weighing up the pros and cons of chartering your yacht. Yacht charter has seen consistent year on year growth, albeit with a slight decline during Lockdown last year. However, in a post-pandemic world yachts are...
France announces new charter VAT calculation mechanism
Further to our article of the 5th December, France is first out of the blocks to provide clarity on the new rules to be applied in relation to the VAT on charters. On 30th January the French Authorities issued the Official Tax Bulletin that details the way that VAT on...
Change to VAT reduction rules for ‘High Seas’ charters
What is changing? Following recent challenges from the EU in relation to yacht leasing, there was an element of inevitability to the announcement on 3rd December 2019 regarding reduced VAT rates on high seas charters. In a move to harmonise the rules across the EU,...
Greek Charter – The Mechanics
As we reported in April, the 2018 Charter season has been difficult for Greece. Laws introduced in late 2017 effectively reduced the charter market to those guests who were happy to start and finish their charter outside of Greek waters. Reports made it clear that the...