Six weeks before a summer charter the broker forwards the signed agreement, and the captain forwards it straight to you with one line: Anything we need to worry about? You have never read one before. The document you are holding governs a week that will generate more money and more risk than any other week in the yacht year.
What the agreement is
A yacht charter is a commercial contract between the owning company (as owner) and the charterer. The MYBA Charter Agreement is the industry standard form in the Mediterranean and is widely used elsewhere; other forms exist, including American Yacht Charter Association style agreements. The purser does not negotiate it and does not advise on it. The purser reads it, extracts the operational facts, and builds the charter around them.
What the purser extracts
| Clause area | What you need from it |
|---|---|
| Parties and yacht | Correct legal names for invoices, statements and the APA account |
| Charter period | Embarkation and disembarkation date and time, to the hour |
| Cruising area | Where the yacht may go; affects fuel, clearances, visas and tax exposure |
| Charter fee and schedule | Amounts and due dates, e.g. an instalment on signature and the balance before embarkation |
| APA | The percentage and what it covers |
| Delivery and redelivery | Ports, and whether a delivery or redelivery fee applies |
| Number of guests | Sleeping and cruising guest limits, which are also certificate limits |
| Cancellation and force majeure | Who bears what, and when |
| Insurance | What the owner carries and what the charterer does not |
What the fee does and does not include
Under a typical MYBA-style arrangement, the charter fee covers the yacht, the crew, their wages and food, the yacht insurance, and normal wear. Running expenses of the charter — fuel, berthing, provisions, beverage, guest transport, communications, local fees — are met from the APA, not the fee. Some agreements are on other bases entirely, so read the one in front of you rather than assuming.
The broker
There are usually two brokers: the central agent who represents the yacht, and the retail or charterer broker who represents the guest. The purser normally speaks to the yacht side. The broker is the channel for the preference sheet, the APA request, the top-up conversation and the final statement.
- Route money conversations through the broker unless the captain says otherwise. It protects the guest relationship.
- Keep the broker informed early. A broker who learns about an APA problem from the charterer rather than the yacht will not defend you.
- Everything commercial goes in writing, copied to the captain.
Onboard Notes
- Diarise every date in the agreement: instalment dates, the APA due date, embarkation, disembarkation. Late money is the yacht problem to chase, not the guest problem to remember.
- Check that the guest numbers in the contract do not exceed the yacht certificate limits. If they do, tell the captain immediately.
- This is not legal advice. Interpretation of the agreement is for the owner, the management company, the brokers and their lawyers. The purser flags and asks.