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If you cancel a 350,000 dollar Mediterranean charter 29 days before the start, you owe the full 350,000 dollars. The MYBA contract is the document, the schedule is fixed, and the central agent has no discretion to soften it. If the owner cancels 29 days before the start, the same 350,000 comes back to you, plus your APA, often with a credit for the next charter as a goodwill payment.
That is the structural truth. The rest of this page is what to do around it.
The standard MYBA cancellation schedule
The 2020 MYBA Worldwide charter contract uses a sliding refund scale tied to base fee. The contract is not uniform across all yachts; central agents can amend the schedule and some do. The default, which still applies on the majority of charters in 2026, runs as follows.
More than 91 days before charter start: 25 percent of base fee retained by owner. 60 to 91 days before: 50 percent of base fee retained. 30 to 59 days before: 75 percent of base fee retained. Less than 30 days: 100 percent of base fee retained.
APA is fully refundable regardless of the cancellation date, because no spend has occurred.
Some yachts negotiate softer schedules at booking, particularly for repeat clients or shoulder weeks. A few yachts at the smaller end (under 35m) operate on a flat 50 percent cancellation regardless of date. A small number of new builds in their first season operate on a stricter schedule that retains 50 percent above 91 days.
Read the cancellation clause before you sign. This is one of the four clauses in the contract that the broker should walk you through unprompted. If they do not, ask.
What charter cancellation insurance actually covers
Named-yacht charter cancellation insurance is the protective layer. Premiums run 4 to 8 percent of base fee on standard policies, higher if the trip is in a higher-risk region (anywhere with recent geopolitical instability), lower for trips that are within 30 days of booking. Buy within 14 days of contract signing if the policy is to cover pre-existing health conditions. Buy later and pre-existing conditions become an exclusion.
What standard charter cancellation insurance covers:
Medical events affecting the lead charterer or named guests, with a treating-physician letter. Death of an immediate family member, with documentation. Government-issued travel advisories declaring the destination region unsafe. Major weather events that render the destination unsafe within 14 days of charter start. Acts of war or terrorism in or adjacent to the cruising area. Yacht-side mechanical or crew issues that the owner has not disclosed (rare; usually owner-cancellation territory).
What standard insurance does not cover:
Change of plans. Buyer's remorse. A new project at work. A relationship change. Family disagreements over the charter group. Routine illness that does not require hospitalization. Weather that is uncomfortable but not dangerous. Geopolitical events outside the immediate region (a flare-up in one Mediterranean country does not trigger a Bahamas charter cancellation).
The exclusions list is where most disputed claims happen. Read it. The standard policy from a top-three charter insurance underwriter (Pantaenius, Lloyd's syndicates, Mitsui) runs to 18 to 24 pages. The exclusions are usually section 4. Read section 4.
When the client cancels: the process
If the cancellation is your decision, the chain is short.
Day 0: send written notice to the retail broker, copying the central agent. Email is sufficient. Phone is not.
Day 1 to 3: gather documentation for the insurance claim. Medical notes. Death certificates. Government advisories. Whatever the triggering event requires.
Day 3 to 7: the central agent processes the cancellation against the contract schedule. The retail broker quotes the amount retained.
Day 7 to 30: insurance claim filed and reviewed. The underwriter typically responds inside 21 working days.
Day 30 to 60: if the claim is approved, the underwriter reimburses the retained portion. APA is refunded by the central agent in parallel.
Two things to do in the same window. First, ask the central agent for a credit toward a future charter on the same yacht in lieu of part of the retention. Owners often prefer a moved booking to a fully retained cancellation. The retail broker should carry this ask without prompting. Second, do not assume the insurance covers; underwriters reject claims that look like change-of-plans even when the medical note is in order. Frame the claim around the exact policy language, not around the human story.
When the owner cancels: the process
Less common, but it happens. Causes include: a sale of the yacht with a closing date inside the charter window; a major mechanical issue (engine block, generator failure, hull damage); a crew incident that has rendered the yacht non-operational; the owner deciding to use the yacht personally and breaching the charter.
The contract says: full refund of all amounts paid, including base fee, APA, and any deposits. Some contracts add a financial penalty on the owner of 10 to 30 percent of base fee, payable to the client. Most do not.
What the central agent typically tries to do is offer a substitute yacht of equivalent or better specification at the same rate, in the same destination, in the same week. This is the favored outcome for everyone if the substitute is genuinely equivalent. The qualifying word is "equivalent." A 50m motor yacht replaced by a 48m sailing yacht is not equivalent for most charter clients. A 50m motor yacht replaced by a 52m of similar age, builder, and configuration is.
Push for the substitute when offered. Inspect the spec sheet against your original yacht. If the substitute is genuinely equivalent, accept. If it is downgraded in any meaningful spec (older refit, smaller tender garage, less stabilization, weaker crew tenure), take the refund and rebook.
Force majeure
A separate category. Force majeure events under MYBA include acts of war, named hurricanes, named pandemics, port closures, and government-mandated restrictions. The handling is symmetric: no fault on either side, full refund of base fee and APA, no compensation either direction.
The wrinkle is what constitutes force majeure. The contract names it. A Mediterranean storm in August that closes a port for 48 hours is not force majeure; it is operational weather and the captain reroutes. A hurricane making landfall on the cruising area on day 2 of a Caribbean charter is force majeure. The distinction is litigation-grade in the worst cases. Get the central agent's reading in writing before agreeing to anything.
The 2020 to 2022 pandemic years rewrote how force majeure clauses are read. Most current MYBA contracts now spell out pandemic-driven cancellation explicitly. Read your version.
When the captain cancels mid-charter
Rare. Happens. A captain has a medical event on day 4 of a 7-day charter. The first mate steps up if certified. If the first mate is not certified to the yacht's tonnage, the charter is paused while a replacement captain is flown in, typically within 24 to 48 hours. If the pause exceeds 48 hours, the contract pro-rates the refund.
In a 2024 case we tracked, a captain on a 65m motor yacht in Sardinia had a medical event on day 3 of a 7-day charter. The first mate was certified. The charter continued with a different command structure and the same crew. The client requested a 15 percent reduction on the base fee on the basis that the trip was meaningfully different from what was contracted. The owner declined, citing first-mate certification. The retail broker negotiated a 10 percent credit on a future charter as a goodwill offer. The client accepted.
Outcomes vary. The structure does not. Document everything. Email the broker the same day.
Documentation to keep
A working file of documents that protect you in either direction of cancellation.
The signed contract, with the cancellation schedule and force majeure clauses highlighted. Wire transfer receipts for base fee and APA. The insurance policy, with the exclusions section flagged. Correspondence with the retail broker (email only, no SMS). The medical or government documentation supporting any covered event. The pre-trip preference sheet (this matters if the trip is partially completed and you are negotiating a pro rata refund). The captain's log if you can obtain it, particularly the entries covering any disputed events.
Keep these in one folder. Reference them when you write. Vague references to "what we discussed last week" do not move a central agent. Specific references to clause 14.3 of the signed contract do.
Two situations where the contract softens in practice
The contract is the contract, but two situations consistently produce softer outcomes than the printed schedule.
The first is the retail broker who values the relationship more than the marginal commission. A good retail broker will go to the central agent on your behalf and ask for a percentage point or two of softening, particularly if you are a repeat client or have a credible booking forward. This works perhaps 40 percent of the time on borderline cases. It does not work on peak weeks or on yachts with full calendars.
The second is the central agent who would rather move the booking than retain the cancellation. The yacht's owner sometimes prefers a confirmed booking in November to a retained cancellation in September. The retail broker should propose this. If they do not, propose it yourself.
When to dispute the cancellation
Three situations where the dispute is worth pursuing.
The owner cancels and offers a substitute that is not genuinely equivalent. Refuse the substitute, take the refund.
The owner cancels for a stated reason (mechanical, crew) that you suspect is actually a personal-use override (the owner wants the boat for themselves). This happens in the August peak weeks. Push the retail broker to verify. If verification is unclear, MYBA arbitration is available, and we have seen this go to MYBA twice in 5 years.
The central agent classifies your circumstance as cancellation when you believe it should be force majeure. Get a second reading from a marine attorney. The cost is 1,500 to 4,000 dollars depending on jurisdiction. On a 350,000 charter, this is a defensible investment if the classification is borderline.
FAQ
What is the standard cancellation policy on a MYBA charter? The standard MYBA schedule retains 25 percent of base fee inside 90 days, 50 percent inside 60 days, and 100 percent inside 30 days. APA is always refundable.
Does charter insurance cover cancellation? Yes, with named-yacht cancellation insurance, the premium typically 4 to 8 percent of base fee. Coverage includes medical events, named family emergencies, and named geopolitical events.
What happens if the owner cancels? The client receives a full refund of all paid amounts, including APA. The contract may also provide for a substitute yacht.
Is APA refundable on cancellation? Yes, regardless of when the cancellation happens, because no spend has occurred.
Can I transfer my charter to a different date? Sometimes. A date transfer is at the owner's discretion through the central agent.
How long does a refund take after cancellation? APA refunds inside 7 to 14 days. Base fee refunds, if applicable, inside 30 days. Insurance reimbursements inside 21 to 45 days.