It's a nightmare for charter customers that happened to YACHT reader Daniel S. "We were on our way to a long weekend charter in Lemmer when Thinius owner Andreas Kühn informed us by phone that the boat we had booked was not available and that he had no replacement boat. However, he had arranged a yacht from a neighbouring company, which we had to pay for in full when we started our trip. He then promised an immediate refund of the payments we had already made, but to date, around 10 days after the charter, this has not arrived." The customer has now filed a criminal complaint against the company.
YACHT is aware of two similar cases for Lemmer and Mallorca. Here too, customers were informed shortly before the start of the cruise that the boats were not available. Efforts were made to find a replacement boat, but in the case on Mallorca this was not possible.
Apparently, everything has not been running smoothly at the company for months; in addition to this case, YACHT is aware of others in which similar allegations have been made.
Daniel Barone from Barone Yachting comments: "We had four bookings with Thinius on Mallorca. As the customers' trips approached, we were surprised that the charter base did not provide any further information or documentation for the customers. On enquiry, it turned out that the boats were no longer under contract with Thinius, but had been transferred by the owners to other companies. The management should have forwarded the money, but did not do so." It was then possible to rebook the customers onto other boats at no extra cost to them, but Barone is still waiting for the advance payments to be refunded.
Two other German agencies report similar cases, the pattern always seems to be the same: deposits were paid, but the money was apparently not forwarded. Four large German agencies, which did not wish to be named, have now stopped doing business with Thinius.
However, it is obviously not only charter customers and agencies that are irritated by the irregularities. Since the end of last year, owners who have entrusted their ships to Thinius for charter have begun to withdraw their yachts. According to Star Sails managing director Helge Kröger, owners on Mallorca with a total of 10 ships have switched to his newly founded charter company. Kröger also operates a base in Lemmer in the Netherlands, where owners took seven former Thinius yachts out of their care and stationed them with him. "The owners approached me and asked me to take the boats into my fleet, I didn't approach anyone!" he assures. The company has endeavoured not to leave customers out in the cold and has fulfilled many of Thinius' contracts, sometimes despite financial losses.
Two other owners with several ships, which were originally to be chartered out via Thinius, had already separated from the company and set up their own bases. These are Moonshinesailing in Mallorca and Hoorn in the Netherlands and Lava Charter in the Canary Islands. After the last few turbulent months, all three managing directors are clearly endeavouring to bring calm and seriousness back to the day-to-day business on site. Matthias Büchting, Managing Director of MoonShineSailing: "Following disclosure of the financial situation and assessment by Yachtpool, MoonShineSailing GmbH is also on the list of companies that are authorised to issue a Yachtpool security certificate. Every customer can also check on the Internet whether this authorisation is still valid." Starsails also wants to issue security vouchers. Thinius did not and still does not issue security vouchers for bookings.
Thinius Managing Director and owner Andreas Kühn sees the events in a different light. "There were disagreements with owners about what is charter-related wear and tear in the maintenance of the ships and what is damage caused by customers. These things happen from time to time, it's part of the business."
There can be no question of irregularities with agencies and customers; there were brief problems with a defective ship in Lemmer, but these have since all been settled. He told YACHT that the ship in Lemmer had been damaged by the previous customers, but is said to have told YACHT reader Daniel S. that the ship had been chartered for a week, so he had organised a replacement.
There had been major difficulties in Mallorca, as an owner there had withdrawn a larger fleet following disputes with Kühn. "However, we had a whole series of contracts for these ships. However, not all of them could be fulfilled, so we always had major problems finding replacement ships."
A clear problem in the Thinius case is undoubtedly that the company does not issue security certificates to direct bookers, as Andreas Kühn confirmed to YACHT. Only customers who book through agencies have at least partial reinsurance for their deposit. According to Kühn, the proportion of direct bookers in his customer base is well over 50 per cent.
This was also the case for the aforementioned customer Daniel S., who was informed by Kühn shortly before the charter in Lemmer that no ship was available. Due to their many years of co-operation, they did not ask for a security certificate.
Without a security certificate, however, the following applies in principle: the deposit would not be reinsured in the event of insolvency and is then generally lost, as such cases in the charter market have repeatedly demonstrated in recent years. It can therefore not be emphasised enough how important it is for customers to take advantage of this voluntary service on the charter market. Established agencies and direct providers offer this cover, which is usually provided by Yacht-Pool, Pantaenius, Hamburger Yachtversicherung, European Insurance Services or other insurance brokers. Only those who ask for this service at the time of booking and then receive the insurance certificate after the first down payment are on the safe side in the event of the charter agent or fleet operator becoming insolvent. However, the precondition is that the insurance also covers the fleet operator, which not all policies do! Be sure to ask about this when booking.
What appears to be particularly critical: According to some agencies, Thinius Charter is still listed in booking systems with ships that are apparently no longer managed by the company. The Thinius website also lists ships for 2016 for the Mallorca base that are no longer available.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
