How to escape frosts: legal checklist for winterizing your yacht
4 December, 2024
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As the cold season approaches, many yachtsmen head out in search of warmth, focusing on popular destinations such as the Middle East, the Caribbean, or the East Atlantic routes. However, during such transitions, insufficient preparation may cause unpleasant consequences, from incorrect paperwork to inconsistent insurance and technical equipment details.
In this checklist, let us highlight recommended points of preparation on the way to winterizing your yacht, which can make your travels safe and carefree, whether it is a transatlantic crossing or a voyage through the Middle East.
1. Yacht insurance
As we know, yacht insurance coverage shall be valid in the region specified in the Insurance Policy. It should be noted that the Insurance Policy shall cover all the territories you are planning to visit, including regions on the way to the wintering location. Special attention should be drawn to exclusions Navigational limitations for Hull War, Strikes, Terrorism and Related Perils Endorsement (JWLA031) dated 18 December 2023 (or later wording). For example, if you are planning a voyage through the Red Sea on your way to Dubai, the policy may not cover areas near military operations in parts of Yemen and Israel. In order to renew or to extend the policy, you should contact your insurance broker or company who will calculate additional insurance premium for extension of its coverage.
2. Required documents and technical requirements
Before setting off on a long journey, it is important to make sure that all the necessary yachting documents are ready and meet requirements of the countries you will be passing through:
Radio equipment and radio license:
For yachts planning routes away from the coastline, the appropriate radio equipment is very important. One should make sure that the radio license has appropriate extension of the navigation area A3 and meets all technical requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention).
Registration documents:
Given the peculiarities of registration procedures under different flags, it is necessary to take care of extension of the navigation area in the yacht’s registration documents. For example, in order to secure safe transition from A1 and A2 (territorial waters) to A3 and A4 (high seas), one should contact the relevant authorities to update the registration documents. For example, in the Registration Certificates of jurisdictions such as Poland and Dominica, the permitted navigation areas of the yacht are specified.
Powers of Attorney in the name of master or duly authorized person:
Since the yacht may be under the control of another person (master or representative), one should take care of the availability of appropriate Powers of Attorney issued in the name of such persons, as well as to expand the scope of Powers of Attorney according to the route, if necessary. For long-distance races, crew usually includes more people than for shorter races. Therefore, it is especially important to take into account qualifications and experience of the crew members. Each crew member should be well prepared for work at sea, especially in the difficult conditions of long routes.
3. Customs formalities and permits for passage through territories
For yachts making international crossings, it is important to find out legal requirements of each country to be visited.
For example, to cross the Red Sea, it is important to consider regulations from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Red Sea Authority (SRSA) is the body regulating presence of pleasure and commercial yachts. Therefore, you may need to obtain Sailing Permit in order to enter the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia. Type of permit and procedure for obtaining it depends on type of yacht operation. In addition, one should take into account customs formalities for the yacht, in particular, registration of temporary import or export. Wintering may serve as grounds for restoring the customs status of temporary import into the EU, so please make sure that all documents are safe.
Therefore, preparing for wintering is not just a process of hiding from the cold, but also an important part of travel planning, which will facilitate safe transition to warm waters, avoid unnecessary mistakes and continue sea adventures in comfort.
