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The MYBA charter agreement is the industry-standard contract for commercial crewed charter yachts worldwide. Published by the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association, the current version is the 2022 edition, 12 pages long, and used by every major charter broker on the Med and Caribbean circuit. A $200,000 weekly rate Mediterranean charter routinely turns on three clauses inside the MYBA template, and the difference between reading those clauses carefully and skimming them is several thousand dollars at trip end.
This guide walks the contract clause by clause. Read it once before your first charter. Reread the financial and cancellation sections every time you sign a new one.
What MYBA actually is
MYBA, the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association, was founded in 1984 and now has roughly 130 broker members worldwide. The association publishes the standard charter agreement that the broker membership uses on behalf of owner clients. The contract is not law. It is a template. Brokers and owners are free to modify the terms, and the better brokers do so consistently in specific places.
When a broker says "we run a MYBA contract" they mean: standard template, the broker's amendments to the financial terms, and the broker's own addenda for the specific yacht and cruise. The template is the starting point, not the finish line.
The structure of the agreement
The 2022 MYBA agreement has a standard order. The clauses listed below are the operative ones. Boilerplate is not separately covered here.
Recital and parties. Charter fee, payment schedule, and currency. APA. Delivery and redelivery. Cruising area. Crew and the captain's authority. Guest list and capacity limit. Cancellation by the charterer. Default and cancellation by the owner. Force majeure. Breakdown clause. Insurance. Tax and VAT clauses (regional addenda). Disputes and governing law. Gratuity recommendation.
Recital and parties
The opening page names the owner, the charterer, the broker, the yacht, the dates, the charter fee, the currency, the place of delivery, the place of redelivery, and the embarkation and disembarkation times.
What to check: the yacht name is exactly as it appears on the registry. The dates are the dates you intended, not the dates the broker assumed from an email. The charter fee is the figure you negotiated, in the currency you negotiated. The delivery and redelivery ports match your travel plans. A different redelivery port from the delivery port is normal and is the captain's call on weather and itinerary, but it should be flagged in advance, not surprised at trip end.
Charter fee, payment schedule, and currency
The charter fee is the headline weekly rate. The standard payment schedule is 50% on signature, 50% balance 60 days before the charter. Some brokers run 60/40 or 40/60. Some run a non-standard schedule for last-minute bookings inside the 60-day window, typically 100% on signature.
The currency clause matters. Euro is standard on the Med side. US dollar is standard on the Caribbean. The yacht's pricing currency is the contract currency, and the exchange risk between your home currency and the contract currency sits with you. The broker can sometimes hold a fixed exchange rate for an extra fee, but that is a separate arrangement.
What to mark: cross-check the fee against your booking note. The booking note is the broker's pre-contract summary. Any mismatch between the booking note and the contract is the broker's mistake and is fixable before signature.
APA
Advance Provisioning Allowance. The single most variable line item in the contract.
Typical APA: 25 to 35% of the charter fee. Smaller yachts often run higher, larger yachts often run lower. Med charters typically 25 to 30%. Caribbean charters 25 to 35%. Remote cruising grounds (Norway, the Maldives, French Polynesia) often 35 to 50%.
What APA covers: fuel for the yacht and tenders, food and beverage for the guests, beverages for the crew, dock fees, port taxes, comms (satellite, wifi), laundry, fresh flowers, and any guest-side purchases the captain handles on your behalf. APA does not cover the captain's discretion to spend money outside this list without your written consent.
What APA does not cover: gratuity, VAT, travel insurance, your flights, your pre-charter hotel.
The reconciliation. At trip end the captain provides a full APA spend itemised by category. Unused APA is refunded. Overspent APA is invoiced and payable on departure. The captain should brief you mid-charter on the APA pace and flag any anticipated overrun. A captain who silently overruns APA is a captain to flag to the broker.
Negotiable points: the APA percentage on shoulder dates and remote itineraries. The fuel reconciliation method (some captains run an in-out fuel tank reading, others run pump receipts). The crew beverage clause, which on some yachts has historically been a stretch line item.
Delivery and redelivery
The delivery clause specifies where the yacht will be ready for embarkation, when, and in what state. Typical embarkation is 1pm on the first day and disembarkation is 11am on the last day. The yacht is at the dock, the cabins are made, the chef has provisioning, and the captain has the itinerary draft ready for the welcome briefing.
The redelivery clause specifies the port, the time, and the captain's discretion to reposition for weather. The captain has authority to redeliver at a different port than the contracted one if weather conditions make the contracted port unsafe. The cost of additional travel to the redelivery port is typically the charterer's, but the broker should clarify in advance.
What to check: the delivery and redelivery ports match your flight schedule. The redelivery cushion (the buffer between disembarkation and your flight) is at least 3 to 4 hours. Yacht charters do not always finish on schedule.
Cruising area
The cruising area clause specifies the geographic limits of the charter. A Western Mediterranean cruise typically lists France, Spain, Italy, Monaco, and Corsica. A Greek cruise lists Greek waters with or without Turkish coastal stops. Crossings outside the cruising area require owner consent and may carry an additional fee.
The clause matters most when the itinerary you have in mind crosses jurisdictions. A Côte d'Azur cruise that nips across to San Remo is fine. A Côte d'Azur cruise that wants to push down to Sardinia is a different charter and the cruising area should reflect that.
Crew and the captain's authority
The crew clause names the captain, lists the crew complement, and gives the captain authority over operational decisions. The captain's authority covers weather routing, anchorage selection, departure timing, and refusal of any guest activity the captain judges unsafe.
The clause to read: the captain's authority over guest activity. The captain can refuse to allow a guest to operate a tender, jet ski, or sailboard if the captain judges the guest incompetent or impaired. This is rare but not unheard of, and it is in the contract for a reason.
Crew turnover during the charter is the owner's responsibility. The clause typically requires the owner to replace any crew member who departs mid-charter with a comparable substitute at the owner's cost.
Guest list and capacity limit
The guest list clause names the guests and caps the number. The MCA commercial certification caps a charter yacht at 12 sleeping guests above 24m LOA. Day guests, who join the yacht in a port and disembark the same day, may push the on-board count higher subject to the yacht's certification.
What to check: the guest list is accurate. Adding guests after signature requires the captain's notification and may require a contract amendment. Adding guests at the dock without notice is a clause violation.
Cancellation by the charterer
The cancellation tier is the most-read clause in any first-time charter contract. The standard MYBA cancellation tiers:
| When cancelled | Refund |
|---|---|
| More than 60 days before charter | Refund of the balance instalment minus 50% of total fee |
| 30 to 60 days before charter | 50% of total fee retained, balance returned |
| Less than 30 days before charter | 100% of total fee retained |
Brokers and owners commonly amend these tiers. Some run a kinder 30-day window. Some run a stricter 60-day window. The contract should be read for the actual tiers, not the standard MYBA template.
A force majeure exception applies (next clause). Charterer cancellation outside force majeure is the charterer's loss.
Travel insurance, including cancellation insurance, is a separate purchase. Most brokers can introduce you to a specialist underwriter. Standard travel insurance does not cover yacht charter cancellation. Specialist charter cancellation insurance does, at a typical cost of 1.5 to 4% of the charter fee.
Default and cancellation by the owner
If the owner cancels the charter, the charterer is entitled to a full refund and, in the standard MYBA template, to a stated penalty (typically 50% of the charter fee) as compensation for the disrupted trip. This clause exists because owner cancellation is the worst outcome for the charterer. Travel is booked, holidays are scheduled, the trip is set. An owner cancellation 30 days out is hard to remedy.
Some owners include carve-outs for force majeure on the owner's side. Read the clause. A clean MYBA template default-by-owner clause is the structure the broker should be defending.
Force majeure
Force majeure covers events outside both parties' control that make the charter impossible. War, civil unrest, natural disaster, pandemic, port closure by government order. The 2022 MYBA template updated the force majeure clause post-Covid to explicitly include pandemic-related government restrictions.
The remedy is typically a credit toward a future charter on the same yacht or a comparable yacht, with the broker mediating between the two parties. Cash refunds for force majeure are not the standard remedy, though they are negotiable.
Breakdown clause
The breakdown clause covers loss of major equipment for more than a stated number of hours, typically 12 to 24. The remedy is a pro-rata refund of the charter fee for the affected days. "Major equipment" typically means main engines, primary generators, AC, or steering. Loss of a tender, a tender lift, or a piece of water-sports kit is not a breakdown for contract purposes.
What to check: the threshold (12 hours is renter-friendlier than 24). The list of items qualifying as major equipment. The refund mechanism.
We have seen brokers attempt to soften the breakdown clause for older yachts. Push back. The breakdown clause is the most charterer-protective clause in the contract and is worth defending.
Insurance
The insurance clause confirms the yacht's hull and machinery cover, the P&I (Protection and Indemnity) cover for liability, and the crew cover. The charterer's personal travel insurance is separate.
What to read: the P&I cover limit. $50M to $100M is standard for a 30 to 50m charter yacht. Below $50M on a 50m+ yacht is worth questioning. The cover should name the charter operation, not only the private use of the yacht.
Tax and VAT clauses
VAT on Med charters is the joint responsibility of the owner and the charterer to handle correctly. The most common arrangements:
French VAT at 20%, with the standard 50% reduction for charters that exit French waters (the so-called French commercial exemption), reducing the effective rate to 10% on French time.
Italian VAT at 22%, with regional reductions depending on time-in-Italian-waters and yacht size class.
Spanish VAT at 21%, with the matriculation tax overlay where applicable.
Croatian VAT at 13%, the lowest in the active Med charter region.
Caribbean charters typically run no VAT, though some islands carry local taxes.
The clause to read: who is responsible for collection and remittance. The owner and the broker handle this in the standard MYBA template. The charterer's exposure is the cash settlement on the day.
Disputes and governing law
Standard MYBA template runs English law and English courts, with arbitration as the first step. This is one of the reasons the MYBA template is the global standard. English commercial law on charter contracts is well-developed and the arbitration mechanism is fast.
Non-MYBA contracts and bareboat charters often run other jurisdictions. Read the clause.
Gratuity recommendation
The MYBA template recommends 10 to 15% of the charter fee as gratuity at trip end. This is a recommendation, not a clause. The actual gratuity sits with the charterer, paid to the captain in cash or wire on the last morning. The captain distributes among the crew.
The tip yacht crew page covers the regional bands and the mechanics.
Negotiable items
The MYBA template clauses themselves are rarely renegotiated. The numbers inside are commonly negotiated:
APA percentage on shoulder dates and remote itineraries. Cancellation tiers, especially for longer-than-2-week trips. Cruising area limits. Fuel reconciliation method. Gratuity recommendation language (some charterers prefer a smaller percentage stated, with discretionary upside). Crew beverage allowance.
A good broker walks you through which of these are worth pushing on for your specific charter. A broker who refuses to negotiate any of them is a broker doing the lazy version of the job.
What can still go wrong
Three failure modes worth flagging:
A broker who amends the MYBA template in their own favour without flagging the amendment. Read the contract against the standard 2022 template if you have a copy. Diff the differences. Ask about anything you do not understand.
An owner who runs a non-MYBA contract for a commercial charter. Rare in the major broker pool. More common in private-charter arrangements through unfamiliar intermediaries. Push back. The MYBA template is the standard for a reason.
A vague cruising area or a soft delivery clause. The cruising area should be specific. The delivery date and time should be specific. Anything vague at signature becomes a dispute at trip end.
FAQ
What is the MYBA charter agreement? The standard contract published by the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association, used for commercial crewed yacht charters worldwide. The 2022 edition is the current version most brokers use as of 2026.
What is APA in a MYBA contract? Advance Provisioning Allowance. Typically 25 to 35% of the charter fee, paid in advance, covering fuel, food, dock fees, and other operational costs during the charter. Reconciled at the end with refund of any unused balance or charge for any overage.
Can I negotiate the MYBA contract? The MYBA template clauses are not negotiable. The financial terms inside the template are. APA percentage, cruising area, delivery point, and the size of the gratuity recommendation are commonly negotiated.
What happens if the yacht breaks down? The MYBA breakdown clause covers loss of major equipment for more than a stated number of hours. The remedy is typically a pro-rata refund of the charter fee for the affected days, not the cancellation of the charter.
Do I need a lawyer to read the MYBA contract? No, for a standard MYBA agreement with a reputable broker. The broker is the right interpreter. A lawyer is useful for non-standard charters, longer-than-2-week trips, or charters where the rate exceeds $1M per week.
Last updated: 2026-05