Co-sailor agreement for charter trips - Secure yourself in advance
Boat & Yacht Insurance
Co-sailor agreement for charter trips - Secure yourself in advance
You want to make a charter cruise with friends? The cruising area has been selected, the vacation submitted, and the charter ship and flights booked. And a co-sailor's agreement has also been signed by everyone to clarify cost and liability issues among themselves in advance. Then everything is actually clear, and we can get started, right?
Who bears which costs For organizational issues, a co-sailor agreement is not a bad idea," confirms Gunnar Brock, legal counsel at yacht insurance specialist Pantaenius. This can be used, for example, to determine how charter fees are to be apportioned and when they are to be transferred, how much is to be paid into the ship's coffers and what the money is to be used for, or who is to bear the costs if a crew member falls ill and is unable to start the voyage. More important, however, are liability issues, for example: A fellow sailor breaks something or - worse - injures another crew member. Who is liable?
Sample contracts from the Internet "There are numerous sample contracts for co-sailing agreements on the Internet," Brock said. "With such a template, skipper and crew can waive claims for compensation among themselves for property damage resulting from simple negligence." Damage to life, limb and health, however, cannot be excluded in pre-formulated co-sailing agreements.
Limits for individual agreements In order to exclude property damage and personal injury caused by gross negligence, an individual agreement is required. This means that no pre-formulated conditions and forms may be used for this purpose. However, there are also limits to individual agreements. For example, damage caused intentionally may not be excluded as a matter of principle. And an exclusion of liability at the expense of third parties is also understandably not permissible.
Solving existential liability risks through insurance It remains to be seen whether a co-sailor agreement actually provides the peace hoped for in the event of an emergency. When a lot of money is at stake, friendship often comes to an end. So what to do? "In my opinion, existential liability risks should not be solved by possibly unsafe liability exclusions, but by insurance. After all, why should I waive my claims against the person who caused the accident, especially in the case of a bad personal injury?" says the Pantaenius legal expert.
Skipper liability insurance as a safe solution So if you have a good liability coverage, you exclude having to be personally liable with your private assets. Since private liability insurance often does not cover the specific risks of water sports, skipper liability insurance is a safe solution. "Charter insurance from Pantaenius, for example, covers the skipper and up to nine crew members. The skipper's liability and travel cancellation insurance included in it can be supplemented with foreign travel health, accident and/or bonding insurance as desired," says Brock. Thus all are sufficiently secured and can enjoy carefree the charter vacation.
Conclusion For financial and organizational matters, a co-sailor agreement makes perfect sense. For liability issues, skipper and crew should better rely on a good charter insurance.
