Planning a long-distance cruise is exciting but don’t forget the small print. Legal, financial and insurance policies must be watertight to protect the yacht, your assets – and lives
Saint Augustine mused that the world was a book, and those who did not travel read only a single page. Many of us involved in superyachting get hugely frustrated by the sight of row upon row of ocean-going ships bobbing up and down in marinas, each of them heading nowhere, except sometimes around to the next bay. If the yachts could read, I venture to think that they would want to read more than the entry for Saint Tropez! It is true that not everyone wants to be the next Marco Polo, but there are owners, like those who own Tenaz and Silver Cloud, who were joint winners of the 2010 World Superyacht Voyagers Award, who unleash their dreams and set sail.
But, there is a reality check. For mariners, the world has never been a terribly safe place. Every year there are several high-profile reports of fellow yachties being killed, kidnapped or lost at sea. There was the Venezuelan yacht Carre D’As whose French crew were kidnapped in the Gulf of Aden in 2008 or the British 11.6 metre Lynn Rival whose owners in 2009 were kidnapped in the Indian Ocean. Let us not forget Malcolm Robertson who was killed by pirates in 2009 off the coast of Thailand while, as was reported at the time, ‘chasing his dream’ of sailing the world with his wife. Last year there were some 306 acts of piracy reported.
So if you are going to go on this big adventure of sailing the world you should at least prepare yourself. It may sound obvious, but for heaven’s sake speak to your insurers – be it your broker, the insurance company or the underwriter; discuss your plans with them. They may require you to install an Automatic Identification System transponder, so the yacht can be tracked. They will almost certainly ask you to complete a risk assessment of your journey and have in place a yacht security plan. Remember insurance policies will exclude cover when ‘performing any voyage or being employed in any trade which in the opinion of the directors is imprudent, unsafe, unduly hazardous or improper’.
Protecting your yacht is tricky. Some states might allow you to keep guns on board provided they are stored in a secure gun locker, but as a general rule you would need to declare them to customs. Failure to declare might result in the criminal offence of smuggling weapons
You may not know it, but your policy may have restrictions on the waters you sail in. That really competitive insurance premium may have a whole pod of limitations as to where you can use the yacht. For example, you may be able to use the yacht in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, but you cannot sail across the Atlantic. You will have limitations on sailing through areas which are technically war zones. Do you have coverage for acts of terrorism or piracy? Are all your personal belongings covered? All sorts of things can be stolen. The ‘Portrait of Dora Maar’ by Picasso, valued £4m, was stolen from Coral Island in 1999 while alongside in Antibes.
What about life cover – not just for the owner but for guests and crew? Should you consider kidnap and ransom insurance? Yes, that mojito in Havana is looking less enticing, and by the way if your insurer is American, is a visit to North Korea or Cuba on the cards? You need to check.
If your yacht is classed, please check with your classification society that your yacht is certified to do blue water sailing. You would be surprised how many really significant yachts are not kitted out to sail more than 60 miles from a safe port.
Also, if the yacht is financed, check with your bankers and your lawyers as to which waters the yacht is allowed to sail in under your finance agreement. You may find restrictions you are unprepared for. Clearly, the bankers don’t want their security put at risk; they also don’t want you sailing into a port where they cannot enforce their security. Freedom is a wonderful thing.
But the big issue is personal security. Can you carry a gun on your yacht? If you are determined to do so, there is nothing to stop you . . . except being caught. The general perception might be that carrying weapons on board is the most effective measure to protect guests and the yacht when navigating in hot spots, but there are many obvious legal implications. Most security consultants would advise you not to place yourself in a situation where you need a gun. Also, a single gun against a band of pirates will probably be counterproductive.
Carrying firearms in areas where the natural risk of piracy attacks is very low might just increase the level of risk by putting the crew at risk of breaking the law for illegal use and possession of weapons and illegal importation. In fact, carrying firearms on board most ships is illegal. As a rule, no red ensign-flagged yacht can legally carry weapons. Even where carrying weapons on board is permitted, strict and absolute compliance with the laws is a must – which may become complicated when crossing borders and cruising near or within the territorial waters of different states. If not observed this might result in imprisonment and the seizure of the yacht.
The other issue relates to our old friend insurance. Insurance will not cover any intentional act of breaking the law, as would happen when carrying weapons in certain jurisdictions. Carrying arms and having armed crew would therefore put the insurance coverage at a serious risk.
There is a lot of world to see where you are not at too much risk, and with the support of your insurers, the classification society and flag, an enticing adventure can be had, with you playing with a canoe instead of toying with a gun.