The MYBA Charter Agreement Explained: Payments, Cancellation, Checks

Two versions are in circulation: the 2017 agreement and the MYBA terms released in April 2025, which add know-your-client and sanctions checks, clearer force majeure rights for the charterer and an entire-agreement clause that excludes earlier communications with brokers. Check which one you are signing. The strict part for the charterer is cancellation: once you have signed and paid the first 50%, assume that money is at risk if you cancel, whatever the reason.

Below we go through the contract in the order it affects you: who is who, what you pay for, when you pay, what happens if plans change, and the points worth checking before you sign. This is a practical guide, not legal advice.

What is MYBA?

MYBA is an international professional association of yacht brokers and charter professionals, founded in 1984. Among other things, it publishes the standard charter agreement that brokers across the industry use, plus guidelines for brokers, charter managers and crew. The standard terms are reserved for MYBA members, which is why you normally receive the contract from a charter broker that is a MYBA member rather than downloading it yourself.

According to Hill Dickinson, the vast majority of Mediterranean summer superyacht charters are governed by English law contracts based on the MYBA terms. The standard terms form the body of the agreement, and anything negotiated for your specific charter goes into a section called Special Conditions.

Which version: 2017 or 2025?

According to the law firm Hill Dickinson, the MYBA Charter Agreement remained unchanged from 2017 until April 2025, when new MYBA Charter 2025 Terms were released. Both versions were in use during the 2025 season. The 2025 terms added, among other things:

• Know-your-client checks: both sides must exchange the documents required.
• Sanctions: a broad definition of a sanctioned party, and a mutual warranty that neither party nor any guest falls within it.
• Force majeure: clearer rights for the charterer when the owner invokes force majeure because of a breakdown.
• Entire agreement: earlier communications with brokers are excluded from the contract.

Under that clause, if your broker promised you something by email (a particular toy, a cabin arrangement, a berth, a start time), it only counts if it is written into the contract, usually in the Special Conditions.

According to Hill Dickinson, the 2025 agreement also provides for automatic cancellation if a charter cannot go ahead because of inadequate KYC or a breach of anti-money laundering or sanctions rules.

Who is who in a MYBA charter?

The contract is signed between you and the yacht’s owner, and around it work the charter manager, your broker, the stakeholder that holds the funds and the captain:

• Owner: the yacht’s owner, or the company that owns it. The contract is between you and the owner.
• Charterer: you, the person who signs and pays.
• Charter manager or central agent: the firm that manages the yacht’s charter programme for the owner and approves the contract.
• Retail broker: the agency that works for you, prepares the contract and is your point of contact.
• Stakeholder: the party that holds the funds you pay before and during the charter.
• Captain: in charge of the yacht and crew, and accountable to you for the APA.

MYBA’s guidelines say the contract can only be issued by a company subscribed to MYBA’s e-contract system, and that each agreement carries a unique number that can be checked with an online validator. If you want peace of mind, ask the agency to confirm the contract is a genuine MYBA agreement.

Options and first refusals

Before a contract there may be an “option” or a “first refusal”. MYBA defines an option as the period from when the central agent approves the contract until the date the first payment is due. The yacht is only confirmed once you have signed and the deposit has arrived by that date. If signature and payment are not completed by that date, the agreement is null and void and the yacht goes back on the market. A first refusal is a softer hold that the central agent may grant at its discretion while you decide.

What does the MYBA charter fee include?

The yacht and its equipment, the basic consumables, the ship’s laundry, the crew and the insurance. MYBA’s guidelines for captains list each item:

• The yacht with all its equipment in working order.
• Tools, stores, cleaning materials and basic consumables for the engine room, deck, galley and cabins.
• Laundry of the ship’s linen.
• Crew wages, uniforms and crew food.
• The insurance of the yacht and crew, as set out in the insurance clause.

“Basic consumables” is wider than it sounds. MYBA lists filters, lubricating oil, paint and varnish, but also sun lotion, soap, shampoo, paper products and galley basics such as salt, pepper, spices, herbs and sugar. These should not appear on your APA account.

What do you pay on top?

Everything else, at cost. MYBA’s list includes:

• Fuel for the main engines and generators, and for tenders and water toys.
• Food and drink for your party.
• Berthing dues and harbour charges, including pilots, local taxes, divers’ fees, customs formalities and waste disposal.
• Water and electricity taken from shore.
• Ship’s agents’ fees where applicable.
• Personal laundry.
• Communications, including internet if not included in the fee.
• Transport ashore for your party.
• Hire or purchase of any special equipment you ask for.

MYBA also notes some details that protect you:

• You should only be charged port fees incurred during your charter period, unless your party arrives earlier than contracted or stays later by agreement, in which case those extra port fees are yours too. Dockage while the yacht is provisioning before you arrive is for the owner.
• Initial flowers are part of the owner’s welcome. Replacing them later is charged only if you say yes when the chief stewardess asks, with an indication of cost.
• Fuel should be bought at the best available price, duty-free where possible, and the fuel used must be explained when the final account is presented.

These costs are paid from the APA. Our APA guide explains how much to send and how the account is settled.

When do you pay under a MYBA contract?

A common schedule, the one IYC describes for its own charters: 50% of the charter fee on signing and the other 50%, with the APA, about one month before the charter.

This schedule is a convention, not a law. Some contracts use different splits or dates, especially when you book close to the charter, and the exact dates are written into your agreement. What does not change is that the yacht is not secured until the contract is signed and the first payment arrives on time.

VAT in the contract

VAT is charged on the charter fee and, as IYC puts it, varies by cruising destination. Some contracts are signed with a reduced VAT percentage that depends on the yacht spending time in international waters. MYBA’s guidelines ask the broker to remind you before the charter, the charter manager to remind the captain, and the captain to remind you on embarkation, because the reduction has to be proved with paperwork. If your contract includes that kind of reduction, the route is part of the deal. Our VAT guide by country explains the rules.

For the same reason, MYBA advises captains not to change the itinerary while you are on board without first discussing it with the central agent, the broker and you: a change of route can change the tax.

What happens if you cancel?

If the charterer cancels, the standard terms treat it as a repudiation of the contract. As summarised by YachtCharterFleet, the owner may keep the payments already made and can recover further sums that were due. In return, the owner must try to limit the loss by re-letting the yacht for the same period. If the yacht is re-let, the excess, after the owner’s expenses, goes back to you, up to the amount you had paid. This is where the MYBA contract is strictest.

In practical terms:

• Once you have signed and paid the first 50%, assume that money is at risk if you cancel, whatever the reason.
• If you are close to the charter and have paid in full, assume the full fee is at risk.
• Getting money back depends on the yacht finding another charter for your dates.

Some brokers and owners agree softer cancellation terms in the Special Conditions. If flexibility matters to you, negotiate it before signing and get it written in; under the 2025 terms, a broker’s promise made only by email does not count.

Should you take out cancellation insurance?

The standard contract does not insure you against your own reasons for cancelling: illness, family events, business. Find out whether a charter cancellation insurance product is available for your booking and what it covers. Read the exclusions carefully.

What happens if the owner cancels or the yacht breaks down?

Here the contract protects you more: in both cases you get back what you paid, and if the owner cancels without force majeure you also receive liquidated damages.

If the owner cancels for a reason other than force majeure, the charterer gets the money back plus liquidated damages, calculated according to how close the cancellation is to the start of the charter. Hill Dickinson describes this mechanism in its analysis of the 2025 agreement.

If the owner validly invokes force majeure, the charterer receives a refund of the sums paid. YachtCharterFleet adds that the parties can also agree to postpone or extend instead.

What counts as force majeure? Under the 2025 agreement, as described by Hill Dickinson, it covers events beyond the reasonable control of the parties, such as severe weather, government action, war, pandemics and major mechanical or electrical breakdowns. A breakdown caused by lack of maintenance or negligence does not qualify, and the burden of proof is on the owner. If redelivery of the yacht at the end of the charter is delayed by force majeure, the charter continues without penalty to you.

Two other points:

• The broker’s commission is paid by the owner. According to Hill Dickinson, it is earned once the agreement is signed and the first instalment paid, and remains payable by the owner whatever the reason for cancellation.
• During the pandemic, MYBA issued a special addendum allowing a change of destination, a new date or cancellation without penalty, with a full refund if the parties could not agree. Addenda like this exist for specific situations; ask whether any apply to your contract.

What insurance does a MYBA charter include?

The charter fee includes the insurance of the yacht and crew under the contract’s insurance clause. MYBA’s guidelines say the yacht’s insurance documents should be available to the charterer on request, and that the broker can ask the charter manager for the yacht’s insurance and liability cover, its certificate of registry and other relevant certificates.

What the yacht’s insurance does not cover is you: your health, your belongings, or your decision to cancel. Your own travel insurance should handle those.

Life on board: what the contract says

The standard contract already settles berths, extra guests, children, visas, local taxes and the use of the yacht. MYBA’s broker guidelines list these as clauses people often add to the Special Conditions without realising they are already in the body of the agreement:

• Berths are not guaranteed. Every effort is made to secure berths in the ports you choose, but neither the owner, the captain nor the stakeholder can be held responsible for the final allocation.
• Extra guests joining on board are at the captain’s discretion.
• Children must be supervised by an adult in your party at all times.
• Visas for you and your guests are your responsibility.
• Local taxes are for your account, bank fees are deducted from the APA, and outstanding accounts are settled with the captain before you disembark.
• Use of the yacht: smoking only on outside decks, and rules on diving and pets.

Damage and the APA

If a guest causes damage, the captain should inform the broker and the central agent to discuss how to proceed. If it is decided that the repair is at your expense, MYBA’s guidance is that the captain should show you the damage as soon as possible, photograph it, establish a realistic repair amount and withhold it from the APA, with an explanation on the APA account that you sign before leaving. If you were not told during the charter and did not sign the account, it would be unreasonable to ask you to pay later. Cleaning a specific part of the yacht, such as carpets, should only be charged when the damage goes beyond fair wear and tear.

Tips

MYBA states that gratuities are entirely at the charterer’s discretion. Brokers generally suggest 5-15% of the charter fee for excellent service, and a tip must never be solicited, verbally or in writing, when the final account is settled. See our crew tipping guide.

What should you check before signing a MYBA contract?

• Version. Is it the 2017 agreement or the 2025 terms?
• Yacht, dates and ports. Name of the yacht, exact embarkation and disembarkation times and places.
• Number of guests. The contract states the number of guests.
• Charter fee and VAT. The fee, the VAT rate applied and its basis. If the VAT depends on time in international waters, the route must allow it.
• APA. The amount or percentage, and when it is due.
• Delivery fees. Whether there are delivery or redelivery fees and how they are calculated.
• Payment dates. When each instalment is due, and where to (always to the account stated in the contract, never to new details sent by email without verifying them by phone).
• Special Conditions. Everything you were promised that matters to you: toys, specific cabins, dietary needs, a berth, a flexible cancellation clause.
• Cancellation terms. What you lose if you cancel, and whether anything softer has been agreed.
• Insurance. What the yacht’s policy covers, and whether you need your own cancellation or travel cover.
• Genuineness. Ask the broker or charter manager to confirm the contract number with MYBA’s e-contract validator.

Is the MYBA contract good for the charterer?

It is balanced, well known and tested. Everyone in the industry knows how to read it, which reduces arguments. It is strict on cancellation by the charterer, transparent on costs (you pay running costs at cost, with receipts) and gives you real remedies if the owner fails to deliver. The weak point for you is flexibility, which is why the Special Conditions deserve attention.

Before choosing a yacht, it helps to understand the full cost picture: see how much a luxury yacht charter costs and, for how the process works from enquiry to contract, how it works.

Before you pay the first instalment, run the checks in how to check a yacht charter agency: who the agency is, whether it confirms the contract number with MYBA’s validator and whose account the money goes to.

Before the contract: tell us your plans

Many of the checks above start with your request: the dates, embarkation and disembarkation ports, the number of guests and anything you would want written into the Special Conditions, such as a particular toy, a cabin arrangement or more flexible cancellation terms. Send us that and a charter specialist will reply with options that fit it. The charter is contracted with the yacht’s owner through a licensed charter agency, usually under the MYBA agreement, with the full price and the VAT clear before you sign. Share your plans.