Short answer. The MYBA Charter Agreement is the reference form for crewed yacht charter in the Mediterranean. It covers the yacht and her crew for a defined period and cruising area, payment in two instalments, an Advance Provisioning Allowance funding running costs, a security deposit, and a precise mechanism for breakdown, cancellation and guest conduct. It does not cover what many assume is included: running costs beyond the APA, VAT, crew gratuities, shore activities, damage beyond the deposit, or the choice of itinerary, which remains the master’s final decision on safety grounds. By default the form points to English law and London arbitration, which can be changed.
A week aboard a forty-metre yacht costs between one hundred and two hundred and fifty thousand euros before expenses. At that level every line of the contract matters, and yet most clients sign without reading it, on the broker’s word. Disputes surface at embarkation, with a yacht that does not match the brochure or a crew that has changed; during the cruise, with a breakdown, weather, a refused itinerary or unwanted guests; or at the end, over the APA reconciliation, a retention on the deposit, or damage.
What the MYBA form is, and who signs it
The MYBA Charter Agreement is a form issued by the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association, revised periodically, used for crewed charters of larger yachts in the Mediterranean and increasingly elsewhere. It is signed by the owner or owning company, by the charterer, by the owner’s central agent and by the client’s retail broker, and it designates a stakeholder, usually the central agent, who holds the funds. Its first page fixes the variables: yacht, period, place and time of delivery and redelivery, cruising area, price, APA, security deposit, maximum number of guests, payment terms, governing law and arbitration.
As a matter of French law, chartering a yacht with her crew is an affrètement within articles L. 5423-1 and following of the Transport Code, by time or by voyage depending on the drafting, whose provisions are default rules; the MYBA form serves as the charterparty. The charterer does not take over nautical management, which stays with the owner and the master; he obtains the use of the vessel for the agreed period, with the crew. That is what separates a crewed charter from the bareboat hire of a sailing yacht or a RIB, which follows different rules and different forms.
What the contract covers: the yacht, the crew, the period
The owner undertakes to deliver the yacht at the agreed place and time, in seaworthy condition, clean, with all her equipment and a full crew, and to maintain her in that state throughout. The master and crew remain his servants: they carry out the charterer’s reasonable wishes as to itinerary, timing and service, but the master keeps final authority over navigation, safety and the handling of the vessel, and may refuse a destination or a passage that conditions make unsafe, without that amounting to a breach. The charterer obtains exclusive use of the yacht for the agreed period and within the agreed cruising area, for the stated number of guests, for private pleasure purposes only.
The charter fee pays for that availability and for the crew. It does not include running costs: fuel for the yacht and her tenders, provisioning, drinks, port and mooring dues, communications, laundry, local access fees and taxes. Those are met from the Advance Provisioning Allowance, paid with the balance and administered by the master, who accounts to the charterer at the end, refunds the surplus or calls for the shortfall. The customary thirty per cent is an estimate, not a ceiling, and a charterer who cruises hard or drinks rare wines will exceed it. Also excluded are VAT, crew gratuities, customarily between five and fifteen per cent at the charterer’s discretion, shore services and activities run by third parties.
Payment, cancellation, security deposit
The fee is payable in two instalments: fifty per cent on signature, the balance together with the APA and the security deposit no later than one month before embarkation, into the stakeholder’s account, which releases funds to the owner only on embarkation. A charterer who cancels forfeits all or part of those sums: the form provides that the owner retains them as liquidated damages, subject to an obligation to try to re-charter the yacht and to refund the corresponding share if he succeeds. In practice a late cancellation costs the whole fee, and cancellation insurance taken out by the charterer is the only effective protection. An owner who cancels must refund what he has received and pay compensation, which becomes a negotiating point where the yacht is sold or laid up before the charter.
The security deposit covers damage caused by the charterer and his guests beyond fair wear and tear, and expenses outstanding at the end of the charter. It is returned after reconciliation, within a period the contract should fix, and its retention is the most frequent end-of-cruise dispute: contested damage, no joint condition report, invoices produced late. The charterer’s liability for damage is in principle capped at the amount of the deposit, save for wilful misconduct or use contrary to the contract, which an owner should bear in mind when setting the figure.
Breakdown, weather, itinerary: who bears the risk
The breakdown clause is what best protects the charterer. If the yacht is immobilised by a casualty for more than twenty-four consecutive hours, the charterer is entitled, depending on the edition of the form, to a pro rata refund for the period of immobilisation or to an equivalent extension; beyond forty-eight consecutive hours he may terminate and recover the fee for the unused period, or accept an equivalent substitute yacht where the owner can offer one. The owner owes nothing beyond that: the charterer’s costs of alternative accommodation or of travelling home stay with him, absent proven fault.
Weather, by contrast, is not a ground for refund. A yacht held in port by the mistral for three days is still a yacht made available, and the charterer can claim nothing unless the master failed in his obligations. Itinerary is a further source of misunderstanding. The cruising area is contractual and cannot be extended without the owner’s agreement, since he must check that his insurance and his commercial registration cover the destination. Within the area, the charterer proposes and the master decides, according to safety, local regulation and technical constraints; he is not bound to navigate at night, to anchor in a prohibited zone, or to exceed a reasonable passage time for the crew. Where a charterer insists and a master refuses, both should document the exchange, because a later claim will be judged on that log.
What French law adds where the charter starts in France
Three points are specific to charters starting from a French port. VAT first: crewed yacht charter departing from France is subject to French VAT at twenty per cent, with the taxable base capable of reduction in proportion to time spent navigating outside European Union waters, on evidence such as the log and AIS data, under the effective use and enjoyment criterion. The former flat-rate reduction is gone, and the owner or management company must be able to prove time spent outside Union waters for each charter. The contract should state who bears the VAT and how it is computed.
Commercial registration second: a yacht chartered with crew is commercially operated and must be registered for that use, under the French flag or a recognised foreign flag, with the corresponding safety certificates, manning and crew qualifications. A charter run on a privately registered yacht is an irregular operation which exposes the owner to sanctions and deprives the charterer of insurance cover. Consumer law third: where the charterer is a private individual and the owner or management company a professional, the protective rules of the Consumer Code apply, covering pre-contractual information, unfair terms and conformity of the service. The fourteen-day withdrawal right does not apply, being excluded for leisure services to be supplied on a specified date, but a cancellation clause leaving the charterer with nothing in return can be challenged as an unfair term or as a manifestly excessive penalty clause under article 1231-5 of the Civil Code where French law governs.
Governing law and dispute resolution
The MYBA form points by default to English law and arbitration in London, which the parties may change on the first page. For a charter involving an owner whose management company is in France, a yacht registered in France and a European client, choosing French law and a French court, or the Chambre arbitrale maritime de Paris, is coherent, cheaper, and allows consumer law to apply where the charterer is a private individual.
Where the contract stays under English law, a French charterer disputing a forty thousand euro retention on his deposit discovers that arbitration in London costs more than the sum at stake, and gives up. That is precisely what should be negotiated before signature, not after the cruise.
How the firm works
For owners and management companies, the firm adapts the MYBA form to the yacht’s situation, covering cruising area, VAT, governing law, deposit and any specific use clauses, checks the regularity of commercial operation and of the insurance cover, handles cancellations and end-of-charter disputes, and recovers sums due.
For charterers, it reviews the contract before signature, negotiates the breakdown, cancellation and deposit clauses, and acts where the yacht does not match the contract, where she is immobilised, where a retention is unjustified or an APA reconciliation is questionable. For brokers, it drafts their terms of engagement and assists them in their role as stakeholder when the parties fall out over release of funds. The firm works in English with brokers, management companies and foreign clients, across the ports of the Côte d’Azur, Corsica and the Atlantic coast.
Are you chartering out your yacht, or about to sign a charter agreement? A review before signature prevents most end-of-cruise disputes.
Frequently asked questions
What does the MYBA charter fee include?
The yacht and her crew for the agreed period and cruising area. It does not include running costs such as fuel, provisioning and port dues, which are met from the Advance Provisioning Allowance of around thirty per cent, nor VAT, crew gratuities or shore services.
What happens if the yacht breaks down during the charter?
Beyond twenty-four hours of immobilisation the charterer is entitled to a pro rata refund or an equivalent extension; beyond forty-eight hours he may terminate and recover the fee for the unused period, or accept an equivalent substitute yacht, depending on the edition of the form.
Can a charter be cancelled and the deposit recovered?
In principle no: sums paid are retained by the owner as liquidated damages, subject to his attempt to re-charter the yacht. Cancellation insurance is the only effective protection. The consumer withdrawal right does not apply to leisure services supplied on a specified date.
What VAT applies to a charter starting in France?
French VAT at twenty per cent, with the taxable base capable of reduction in proportion to time navigating outside European Union waters, on evidence, under the effective use and enjoyment criterion. The contract should say who bears it and how it is calculated.
Is the MYBA contract governed by French law?
By default it points to English law and London arbitration, but the parties may choose French law and a French court, or the Chambre arbitrale maritime de Paris, on the first page. That is the sensible choice where the yacht and her management are in France.
Further reading: the MYBA sale contract and the as is clause, latent defects on a second-hand yacht, maritime litigation.
Written by Hervé Guyader, avocat at the Paris Bar, doctor of law. This content is general information and is no substitute for advice on your own matter.