Charter market: Balearic Islands want to fend off the onslaught of private charter yachts

The publication of a decree by the government in Madrid came as a surprise to the industry. It is intended to allow private individuals to charter out their yachts in the peak season months of July, August and September, which was previously not possible. And without the background of a professional base that operates an entire fleet. This model exists in many European countries and is generally summarised under the term owner charter. In Germany, there are even agencies that have specialised in this area, such as the agency Private charter Baltic Sea (PCO).

However, the charter fleet operators on the Balearic Islands are fighting back against the unexpected competition, which could then travel over from the mainland in droves in the summer and further overcrowd the already well-filled harbours and bays in the summer. But this is not the first point of criticism, as Dirk Kadach, who works for 1st class yachts/First Class Yachting, which operates the charter base in Can Pastilla:

Such a competition is only conceivable with the same rules of the game

"For us, something like this can only be possible if the competition takes place under the same rules, i.e. if the private charter companies also fulfil all the requirements that we have to comply with. This starts with the ships first of all complying with the relevant safety requirements for charters in terms of technical equipment and regular inspections. Then there are insurance issues: private owners are not insured against the charter risk. Are they obliged to make improvements and also take out the higher sums insured that we do?" The hurdles are high for charter companies in the Balearic Islands, and he does not believe that many owners will make the effort privately and then still be interested given the additional costs.

Uwe Heine from the company Four Seasons Yachtingwhich operates a base in Portocolom. "However, it is not yet clear whether these private offers will simply materialise. The charter association ANEN of the Balearic Islands is resisting the decree, after all, the conditions and rules are there for a reason." It is quite possible that there will be subsequent regulations, for example that such yachts will be strictly controlled in the harbours. This also applies to the registration of ships, which must have a number on the hull in Spain. This is different for charter yachts than for private owners. The decree apparently now also allows yachts to be chartered out without this charter registration number. There are therefore still many unanswered questions that are not even covered in detail in the new regulation. The last word does not yet seem to have been spoken on the matter.

In general, customers must also be aware of the peculiarities of private charters. It is possible to find unusual and above all smaller yachts in this way, which are of course also favourable, but there are also risks. If you charter directly from the owner, there are no replacement vessels if the yacht breaks down due to damage, and whether he equips, maintains and cleans it as professional companies do and as most customers are used to is of course also a question.

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