What the MYBA Charter Agreement Is

What the form is

Most crewed charters in the Mediterranean run on a standard form rather than a contract written from scratch. The form is published by MYBA, the worldwide yachting association, and the industry has used versions of it for decades.

A standard form helps both sides. The owner does not negotiate the same 12 points with every charterer. The charterer signs a document that thousands of charters have already tested, so other people have argued over the awkward parts first and the answers are known.

Page one is where the deal is set out: the yacht, the dates, the cruising area, the charter fee, the delivery and redelivery ports, the number of guests, and the figure written in as the advance provisioning allowance (APA). The clauses behind it set out how the deal works.

The clause that divides the money

Clause 8 does the heaviest work in the document, because it decides which side pays for what.

The charter fee covers the yacht with its equipment in working order, tools, stores, cleaning materials, basic consumable stores, laundry of the ship’s linen, the crew’s wages, uniforms and food, and the insurance of the vessel and crew.

Everything the guests themselves consume sits outside that. Fuel, food and drink for the charter party (the guests on board), berthing and harbour charges, water and electricity taken ashore, personal laundry and communications are all payable at cost. They are usually funded through the advance provisioning allowance. The guide what an APA is explains how that fund works.

Taken together, the two paragraphs show the shape of the deal. The yacht and the people who run it are bought. What the guests use is paid for separately.

Where the money sits before the charter

Charter funds do not go straight to the owner. Under the standard arrangement a stakeholder holds the money until the charter starts. The stakeholder is normally the brokerage of the central agent, the broker who acts for the yacht. The money is released according to the terms of the agreement, not on request.

Because of this arrangement, the contract, the account and the broker’s role have to be understood together. The guide what a charter broker is covers the rest.

What the 2025 revision added

MYBA released a revised agreement in April 2025, the first substantial change since the 2017 version. It added six clauses, numbered 26 to 31. They exist because the rules on compliance changed and the older form said nothing about them.

The first is know your client, meaning identity checks. Owner and charterer must both provide identity documents before any funds move. Where a third party pays on the charterer’s behalf, that payer is drawn into the checks too. This is the change most likely to surprise a family office or a company paying for a charter that expected to stay outside the transaction.

A defined sanctions clause is framed as a continuing promise by both sides, with an express right to end the agreement if it is broken.

The confidentiality clause covers the terms of the agreement, the documents signed under it, ownership information, and the identity of the charterer and the charter party. The obligation continues after the charter is completed, cancelled or rescinded, with no time limit. For a charterer who cares about privacy, this is the clause to read twice.

The remaining clauses cover data protection and conduct on board. The conduct clause now allows immediate termination for physical or sexual assault, or for possession of illegal drugs or weapons.

What the form does not settle

Three things sit outside the form, and each has caused a bad week for somebody.

The first is the itinerary. The agreement names a cruising area, not a route. Where the yacht goes is the captain’s decision, based on the weather and the sea. A charterer promised a specific harbour on a specific night has been promised something the contract does not contain. The guide to the meltemi explains why.

The second is national law. Greece regulates who may charter in its waters, what licence the yacht needs and what tax is due, and the form displaces none of that. The guide to foreign-flagged yachts in Greek waters sets out that framework.

The third is the yacht itself. No clause turns a tired yacht into a fresh one. The contract governs the deal and says nothing about the condition of the boat.

What to read before signing

1. Page one, line by line: the dates, the cruising area, the guest numbers, the delivery and redelivery ports, and the APA figure. Most disputes start with something written here and read quickly.
2. Which version of the form it is. The 2025 revision and the 2017 version are different documents.
3. What identity documents will be required, and from whom, particularly where somebody other than the guest is paying.
4. The cancellation and non-delivery provisions, before any of them are needed.
5. What is promised outside the contract. If a specific berth, chef or night ashore matters, it belongs on page one.