With over 1,000 spontaneous lithium battery fires reported each week, it’s crucial for all yacht owners to make informed decisions about lithium battery storage. 

Lithium-ion batteries can cause fires or explosions due to thermal runaway. Thermal runaway occurs when a lithium-ion battery cell creates more heat than it can effectively disperse 

Lithium-ion batteries can start fires :

                      When they are overcharged,

                      The incorrect charger is used,

                      The device or battery has been damaged,

                      There is a system fault or product defect. 

The liquid electrolyte containing these lithium ions is highly volatile and flammable, which creates a serious risk of fire or explosion

To prevent lithium-ion battery overheating, consider the following safety measures:

1. Monitor Charging Temperatures:

   • Charge batteries within safe temperature ranges.
   • Use chargers specifically designed for lithium-ion batteries with built-in temperature monitoring.

2. Avoid Overcharging:

   • Be cautious about leaving devices plugged in after reaching full charge to prevent excessive heat buildup.

3. Cooling Provisions:

   • Implement cooling mechanisms such as fans or heat sinks to dissipate excess heat from the battery pack.
   • Link cooling provisions to a Battery Management System (BMS) to reduce battery pack temperature if it gets too hot.
   • Ensure proper monitoring of the BMS to prevent indirect failure of the lithium-ion batteries.

4. Insulation and Thermal Management:

   • Use insulation materials to protect batteries from extreme temperatures.
   • Optimize thermal management systems to prevent thermal runaway and ignition of fire.

Remember that proper education, storage, and recycling of lithium-ion batteries are crucial for safety. Let’s keep our energy storage technology secure and reliable.

For more information contact:

European Marine Services Ltd

Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR & Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

British marine and leisure firm Broom Boats of Brundall, which has operated on the Norfolk Broads for 125 years, has been put up for sale.

Located on the River Yare, Broom Boats was established in 1898 and is known for building boats and its fleet of charter vessels. The business also operates as a marina and boat yard, offering repair and maintenance services, although its boatbuilding arm closed in 2018.

Specialist business property adviser Christie & Co has been instructed to sell Broom Boats of Brundall on behalf of Broom Marine Group.

Local news outlet Eastern Daily Press reports that the owners want to sell so they can focus on their other company, a strategic land and property development business.

The business originally established a hire fleet in 1912, enabling clients to explore the unique landscape of the Norfolk Broads National Park. Today, the business operates one of the newest fleets on the Norfolk Broads.

The 8.6-acre (3.49 ha) freehold site provides over 72,000 sq ft (6,719 sq m) of marine-related buildings together with 78 private marina berths and a £3.28m hire fleet comprising 24 luxury cruisers and six electrically operated day-craft and two fishing boats.

The most recent addition to the business was the acquisition of the former Yare public house adjacent to the site entrance in 2022. The property underwent a £600,000 transformation, opening in October 2022 as The White Heron with a food menu introduced in April 2023 and B&B from boats moored adjacent to the pub in November last year.

Christie & Co says offers are invited for the business, which will be sold as a going concern, with staff transferring to a new owner at completion.

“We’ve witnessed an uptick in demand for both inland and coastal marina and boating businesses over the last 18 months,” says Jon Patrick, head of leisure and development at Christie & Co, who is handling the sale process. “This has come from existing UK and European operators, as well as boating and marine enthusiasts and investors.

“However, we’ve also seen greater activity in the sector from owners of holiday parks and associated leisure hospitality businesses, which do share some similarities in terms of the underlying business model with marinas. As a result, we anticipate that interest in Broom Boats will come from a diverse range of parties.”

Courtesy of Industry News

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

In mid and late 2023 European Marine Services undertook two most interesting marine insurance surveys / inspections of    2x Rannoch R45 Ocean Row Boats

Team ‘HODL’  (Hold on for Dear Life) Rowing the Pacific Ocean from USA to Hawaii – 3 Man Crew   

  Team HODL

Pacific Rowing Challenge 2023

Team HODL is a 3-person crew taking on the challenge of rowing across the Pacific Ocean, from Monterey Bay California to Hawaii, to raise donations for the Ocean Cleanup Charity. It’s a 2,800 mile journey that if completed in under 60 days, becomes a World Record too. 

It’s a project that started with planning 18 months ago. At the beginning, the team had no financial resources or boat. They spent their early days doing marketing stunts such as rowing on a borrowed rowing machine in parks. This got them press attention and then allowed them to reach out to sponsors. From there, the project grew larger and larger, with media attention coming from ITV, BBC and Sky News. 

As mentioned, the journey will take around 60 days and within that, each person will roughly row 16 hours a day, and rest for 8 hours. The shift pattern is to row for 3 hours and rest 90 minutes at a time. That rest does not necessarily mean sleep as they need to fuel themselves, hydrate, clean their bodies and maintain any issues with the boat. On average, each crew member will consume between 5,000 – 6,000 kcal per day and drink around 6 litres of water. The water is produced through a water-maker that separates the water and the salts from the sea water.

Team  ‘The Big Oardeal’  Rowing the Atlantic Ocean from Canary Isles to Antigua – 4 Man Crew       

Team ‘The Big Oardeal’

” Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge”

Starting from San Sebastián de La Gomera in the Canary Islands and finishing in Antigua.

Rowing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and hoping to complete the journey in about 35 days.

Rowing over 1.5 million strokes, burning 5,000 + calories a day, and facing waves up to 20 feet high.

Rowing a 28-foot Rannoch RX45 specially designed for ocean voyages

Update 16 Jan 2024:  Day 34 Currently lying in 12th position with 600nm left to row. The lead boat is almost there

File photos

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

Princess 95′ PPI Pre-delivery Inspection undertaken by EMS

Plymouth-based Princess Yachts, Britain’s largest luxury boatbuilder, has been sold to a US-based private equity firm.

Princess was put up for sale in 2022 by private equity group L Catterton, who reportedly hired bankers at Macquarie to find a buyer.

In a statement issued this morning (14 February 2023), Princess confirms that KPS Capital Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling equity interest in the business.

KPS is a New York-based private equity giant that makes controlling equity investments in manufacturing companies, in North America and Europe. The firm has approximately $14.4 billion of capital under management, as of September 2022.

In 2019, KPS acquired the fitness equipment business of Brunswick Corporation, including the Life Fitness brand, for $490 million in cash.

Existing shareholders will retain ownership in Princess, with the transaction expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.

The moves come after the company announced expansion plans last year as part of the successful bid by Plymouth city council to create a freeport in the region. Princess says this new investment from KPS will ‘help support these plans and reinforce the unique national and international marine capabilities that reside in Plymouth and the wider South West region’.

The Princess business was founded in 1965, and distributes through a 50-strong global network. It had been backed by L Catterton and its predecessor entity since 2008.

Ryan Harrison, a partner of KPS Mid-Cap Investments, says: “We are excited to make this significant investment in Princes Yachts, a leading company in the luxury global yachting industry with an iconic brand grounded in British tradition, a remarkable and growing product range, and world-wide reputation for quality and innovation.

“KPS’ investment will accelerate Princess’ growth trajectory and fund numerous investments for its future. We look forward to working with Princess’ existing stockholders, chief executive officer, Antony Sheriff, the senior leadership team, and the talented employee base at Princess Yachts.”

Antony Sheriff, Princess Yachts‘ chief executive, adds: “We are thrilled to partner with KPS for this exciting new chapter for Princess Yachts. KPS and the Princess Yachts team are deeply committed to investing in the company’s future while continuing to further strengthen our portfolio of best-in-class motor yachts. With a current order book nearing a record $1 billion and many model lines sold into 2025, we have never been in a stronger commercial position.

“Together with KPS’ tremendous track record of manufacturing excellence and investing in leading brands, we are now positioned to take Princess Yachts to the next level of industry leadership in quality and innovation. Under KPS’ ownership, we will accelerate a range of growth and operational initiatives to build upon our long and successful history.”

Acknowledgement to Marine Industry News

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

The International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) in Portsmouth is to close in March 2023.

IBTC Portsmouth teaches traditional wooden boatbuilding and joinery techniques, in the heart of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on the English south coast.

In a brief media statement announcing the news, the college explains that the decision to close has “been a very difficult one to make and has not been taken lightly”, and reassures that all current students will graduate as planned.

The statement reads: “Rising costs and falling student numbers have made it impossible to continue. Our current students will graduate as planned, but no more students will be enrolled and the college will close completely in March 2023. We understand that this will be upsetting news for many who hoped to study with us in future years.

“We hope that you take comfort from knowing that there are still two excellent boatbuilding colleges in England: IBTC Lowestoft and the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis.

“We are immensely grateful to Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust, which rescued the College when it fell into financial difficulties in 2017. They have raised funds, invested in our team, and provided practical support throughout the last five years. We wish to thank them and our amazing staff for all the hard work and dedication to traditional wooden boatbuilding that they have demonstrated.

“Boathouse 4, the beautiful inter-war building where we are based, will remain open and continue to be an important hub for boat restoration and maintenance skills. Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust’s team of brilliant volunteers and staff will maintain the Trust’s world-class collection of historic boats in the building for years to come.”

Hannah Cunliffe, director of National Historic Ships UK says: “It is sad to hear of the closure of IBTC Portsmouth, which has been a nucleus for passing on traditional skills since its opening in 2015. However, I’m pleased that Boathouse 4 will be continuing its role as our Shipshape Hub in the South East, offering support to the sector whilst displaying and caring for the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust’s significant vessel collection.”

Since IBTC Portsmouth opened its doors in 2015, it has trained over 100 students. Many have gone on to forge careers in boatbuilding, boat restoration, and allied industries; preserving traditional skills for future generations. The college says it is immensely proud of students’ success, and its “small part” in it.

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

INEOS Britannia has confirmed its core team to lead the British challenge for the 37^th America’s Cup.

As part of the group, the British America’s Cup team joins forces with Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science, a division of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, to form INEOS Britannia, which INEOS says will bring together the best of the worlds of high-performance marine and automotive engineering, with the goal to win the America’s Cup for Britain.

Leading INEOS Britannia on and off the water into the 37^th America’s Cup will be Sir Ben Ainslie, four-time Olympic gold medallist and one of only two British sailors to have won the America’s Cup (with Oracle Team USA in 2013) as team principal/CEO and skipper.

Backing the team again is INEOS and INEOS’ chairman and founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who previously supported the team’s 36^th America’s Cup challenge. Sir Ratcliffe says: “The America’s Cup has been 170 years of pain for us in Britain. We’ve had fantastic sailors in this country, but we’ve never had the boat that could win. We believe that assembling this unique collection of elite sports teams will give us a stronger chance of achieving what has never been done before. There are many synergies across our sporting family and what Mercedes F1’s engineering and organisational expertise can add to our America’s Cup challenge is one of the strongest examples of that.”

“The America’s Cup is the ultimate team sport and to be successful you need continuity,” says Ainslie. “It takes time to develop the IP, skills and know-how necessary to be a winning team, especially when you are up against teams with over 25 years’ experience. As we enter our third campaign, we have taken a lot of learnings from our previous challenges and assembled a world class team combining talent from Formula 1 and the America’s Cup. Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science bring a legacy of design to the table. They are proven winners, it’s in their DNA, it’s in their culture.”

Leading the design concept for INEOS Britannia’s AC75 boat for the 37^th America’s Cup campaign will be naval designer, Martin Fischer. German-born Fischer was most recently a key part of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s design team for two America’s Cup campaigns, after spending 14 years working on the design of hulls and appendages for numerous projects.

Dave Endean, project director for the team’s 36^th America’s Cup campaign, completes the leadership team as COO, responsible for the day-to-day running and operations of the team’s campaign alongside Ainslie.

James Allison will be the technical lead as chief technical officer of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and INEOS Britannia. Through Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science, Geoffrey Willis will be working with INEOS Britannia as technical director, having previously worked in the America’s Cup with Peter de Savary’s Blue Arrow Challenge.

“Our involvement in the 36^th America’s Cup campaign certainly whetted our appetite,” says Allison. “For that campaign we came in quite late into the process and tried to add as much as we could through the design and engineering expertise of our applied science division.

“It was immediately clear to us that the America’s Cup is a very exciting, and very difficult, challenge. This time we are one team, INEOS Britannia, with the team’s design base embedded in our Formula 1 HQ, and the clear goal to bring the America’s Cup back to Britain. We feel very lucky to be involved in this opportunity and we can’t wait for the challenge ahead, it’s a mouth-watering prospect.”

The INEOS Britannia sailing team is currently in the process of reforming following the conclusion of the 36^th America’s Cup. Giles Scott, the team’s tactician in Auckland, has become one of the first sailors to re-sign with the team following his gold medal in the Finn Class in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

As Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia and Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd are currently working closely with the defender Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) to define a fair Protocol for the 37^th America’s Cup due to be published 17 November. This will include retention of the AC75 class, cost reduction measures to attract a higher number of Challengers, a new crew nationality rule and the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup regattas announced last month.

Acknowledgement to Marine Industry News

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

Recreational Craft – VAT issues Post-Brexit – See below Scenario’s

Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, there have been many questions which have caused confusion and uncertainty for the leisure marine sector both in the UK and in the EU27. Arguably, the biggest has been around the VAT status of recreational craft at the end of the transition period. 

In a show of unity, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA), European Boating Industry (EBI), European Boating Association (EBA), British Marine (BM) and the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) joined forces to provide clarification on VAT and customs for recreational boating companies and users. The five organisations have released this guidance to their members and non-members.

The group has put forward key scenarios affecting boaters (detailed below) and confirms that the European Commission has now responded, validating the interpretation of the guidance and how VAT should be applied under the various examples. This follows a push led by the EBI with the European Commission to provide this important clarification.

Positive confirmation of the scenarios should now also be recognised by each EU country in their dealings with this matter. Failure to do so could result in formal complaints being made to the European Commission. Further clarification will be sought on the documentation required and interpretation of establishment of “person established in the customs territory of the Union”.

Commenting on the collaboration, Philip Easthill, secretary general of the EBI, says: “We are delighted to have received the responses from the commission that companies and boaters urgently need. Given the impact of Brexit on businesses and supply chains, clarity on VAT for second-hand boats is highly important. The cooperation of EBI with our partners has been key and we will continue to advocate for clarity on VAT issues through our channels at EU level.”

Lesley Robinson, CEO of British Marine, adds: “Collaboratively working together with other leisure marine industry bodies is a highly successful way of collectively garnering results, and this recent clarity received on VAT issues post-Brexit will greatly benefit British Marine members and the UK leisure marine industry. The answers to these scenarios will be welcomed in particular by UK boat retailers and brokers to assist in maintaining a healthy trade of second-hand boats across the UK and EU.”

VAT issues scenario post-Brexit

The Union Customs Code referred to within this document can be found here. 

The following acronyms are used:

TPE = The time at which the transition period ended – 31 December 2020, 23:00 UTC 

VPS = VAT Paid Status: i.e. in free circulation

EU28 = EU before TPE, i.e. including UK

EU27 = EU after TPE, i.e. excluding UK

GB = England / Scotland / Wales excluding Northern Ireland

TA = Temporary Admission

RGR = Returned Goods Relief

UCC = Union Customs Code 

Acknowledgement to Marine Industry News

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

European Marine when undertaking Pre Purchase Surveys & Marine Surveys always check the fire extinguishers installed on all craft – We strongly recommend the installation of auto extinguishers in engine spaces

It is quite common to find that many many vessels have NO auto fire extinguishes permanently installed in their engine spaces etc.  In fact in many small sail boats (per fire boat as below) it is necessary for a crew member to first locate an extinguisher (in the panic and heat of the moment) and then to open a small flap located in the engine hatch and insert the fire extinguisher nozzle and pull the trigger – in the event of a fire !

GRP burns very very quickly and first action must be the safety of life

Time is of Essence – It is not best practice and not recommended to attempt to extinguish as above – Fit Automatic Extinguishers

The cost of auto extinguishers is minimal (approx £50) when compared to the loss of human life

Four people including two children have been rescued from a burning yacht at Conwy Harbour.

The yacht crew had noticed smoke coming from the engine space hatch. After attempting to extinguish it using fire extinguishers, the fire escalated out of control.

The crew raised the alarm and were assisted off the vessel shortly after.

HM Coastguard says the crew managed to escape unharmed with the help of two other yachts in the area and are safe and well.

But, says the RNLI, there was an Easterly breeze, coupled with an incoming flood tide, which subsequently carried the yacht upriver, in the direction of the town quay. Conwy lifeboat stood by, monitored the situation and updated the UK Coastguard as appropriate.

Plumes of thick black smoke could be seen billowing into the sky.

With the fire well established, the vessel drifted onto a pontoon opposite the quay wall and was held against another smaller vessel which also caught fire. Given the billowing smoke, the decision was made to close off the quay.

The Harbour Office’s barge, under command of the Harbour Master, successfully assisted the fire service with transporting firefighters and equipment to help successfully extinguish the fire.

Unfortunately whilst the casualty vessel was being relocated towards the shoreside, it succumbed to its damage, and sank. The secondary yacht which had caught fire was successfully moved to the foreshore, so as to assist the fire service in ascertaining whether the fire was fully extinguished.

A spokesman for the HM Coastguard, told the Daily Post: “At 1.35pm we had a mayday call from a yacht called Osprey, who reported they were next to a yacht on fire.

“They were getting the people from their yacht onto their own and they were assisted by another yacht called Freedom in doing so.

“That was very quick and extremely brave of them – the vessel was quite significantly on fire when they made the call to us.

“They were all very lucky and I have to say my gratitude to those two yachts that rescued them so quickly.

“They really did make a positive contribution to the whole incident and did a sterling job.”

The Coastguard says after the alarm was raised, it broadcast to other vessels in the area to stay clear due to the “significant explosion risk.”

Land units from Llandundo and a lifeboat from Conwy were launched – primarily to work out where the drifting yacht was going to end up.

“In that part of the Conwy river, there’s a strong tidal current and because the tide was coming in, it was pushing the yacht up river, past the marina and down towards the bridge and the town,” the spokesman told the Daily Post.

“In the time it took for the yacht to get there, the gas cylinder did explode and launched itself quite high into the air, which was fairly alarming for everybody.

“But ultimately, because nobody was at risk, other than where this thing was going to land, we decided to let it get stuck somewhere and deal with it then, rather than try and catch it and become stuck to it when an explosion happened.”

Acknowledgement to Marine Industry News

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

British Marine says it has met with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to clarify the guidance specific to the leisure marine industry reopening from lockdown on 8 March.

It’s produced a matrix, which it says has been approved by government, detailing how British Marine members (England-only) should interpret the guidance.

Each step of the plan has a ‘no earlier than’ date, five weeks later than the previous step, to allow time to assess the impact of the previous step.

The organisation says it has clarified that, from 8 March, all forms of watersports, including the use of privately-owned craft and self-drive day hire boats for single households, can go ahead in England (subject to local navigation and harbour authority guidance). Furthermore, it has been concluded that marinas can open from 8 March to allow recreational boating to take place and boat brokerage can open in line with non-essential retail from 12 April.

This all assumes that boats allow for social distancing to take place.

The full matrix is split into seven categories: hotel boats, self drive day hire, self drive holiday hire, skippered boats, fixed trading boats, watersport activities, and private boats.

“This roadmap provides hope and reassurance, and I am pleased that the collaboration between government, other user groups and ourselves has resulted in aligned guidance for marine businesses and participants,” says Lesley Robinson, CEO of British Marine. “It is welcome news that parts of our industry should be able to re-open in time for the Easter holidays.

I am cautiously optimistic about the months ahead, based on the assumption that, as the vaccine rollout accelerates, the phased easing of restrictions is achievable.”

Guidance for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differs. British Marine says it remains engaged with government on the individual plans set out by the devolved administrations.

Acknowledgement to Marine Industry News

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123

Robin Baron, chairman of the Cruising Association’s RATS committee, says cruising yachtsmen are in the middle of ‘a perfect storm’.

His words come at the end of months of covid restrictions, a VAT ‘trap’ and new visa rules exacerbating everything. Amid a surge of enquiries about Brexit which has seen the CA run a seminar and respond to multiple questions from members in unfolding territory, Baron has settled on a plan to at least help members negotiate visa arrangements. He’s looking to exert pressure from within.

Since 1 Jan 2021, people can only stay 90 days in any 180-day period within the Schengen area (see below). The 180-day reference period is not fixed. It is a moving window, based on the approach of looking backwards at each day of the stay over the time period. Only absence for an uninterrupted period of 90 days allows for a new stay for up to 90 days.

“This simply doesn’t work for cruising yachts,” states Baron. “It cuts off either April and May, or August and September.” But what perplexes him is that while the UK government gave “EU citizens the right to visit for up to 180 days, our government declined to negotiate the reciprocal arrangement with Schengen.”

Baron admits that a few yachtsmen calling for extended visas or equal arrangements is probably quite low on the government’s priority list, but when added to the cacophony of noise being made by musicians and second home owners also pushing back against 90 days, he’s determined that any changes to be made include boat owners.

“My worry is that second home owners – who find themselves in the same position – will lobby successfully to have an extension, but the Cruising Association needs to make sure that any development includes people in boats and that a visa status change isn’t dependent on having a second address,” he says.

Inevitable consequences of Brexit

With the UK Government so committed to stopping freedom of movement of people, it seems no surprise that the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier says the limited 90 / 180 visa result was one of the “inevitable consequences” of Brexit.

“I very much regretted that the British didn’t have more ambition for people’s mobility,” Barnier told reporters, specifically in reply to questions about musicians. That thwarted ambition is now trickling into everyone’s lives.

“From last March, we made fairly ambitious proposals in terms of mobility, including for specific categories such as journalists, performers, musicians and others,” he went on. “But you need to be two to make a deal.”

Now Baron is looking at ways of making a deal happen from within the EU, given the length of the UK Government’s priority list and where yacht owners are placed.

“We’ve selected countries and are working to create groundswell support to add pressure from within Schengen to allow UK yachts to visit for longer periods. We’re trying to raise localised support, from marinas and other marine trades in target countries like Spain, Portugal and Greece. We’re hoping they’ll help pressure their MPs to grant extended visas,” Baron says. “Our inland waterways section is seeking to negotiate with the Netherlands, using locals to provide influence, to try and gain extended visas.”

He recognises that this is a long-shot as “the economic picture of visiting UK yachtsmen doesn’t add up to a ton of money”, but cites Sweden’s extended visa as a good model to start with. According to Baron, several CA members are currently applying for a visa to see how the process works and identify any pinch points.

“We’ll try out the French system when that opens,” he says, “and we’re expecting the Greeks to move swiftly. Theirs is a small economy, but there are a lot of Brits with boats there.”

The VAT trap

But while Baron has a route forward – albeit lengthy – with attempts to influence visa changes, the perfect storm is raging. And Baron himself has been caught in a downpour, also known as the VAT trap.

Like thousands of other yacht owners, Baron has found himself in a dilemma. Bring his boat back to the UK and face VAT charges running into the thousands, or leave it where is it (in his case Denmark) and have cruising severely curtailed.

The problem arose from a statement made in spring 2019, when – as Baron explains – HMRC said if a boat owner paid VAT in the EU, it would be treated as if the VAT had been paid in the UK.

“Some people went to Europe and bought boats VAT paid thinking they could bring them to UK with no VAT owing,” says Baron, “as that’s what had been said.

“But in 2020, HMRC did a complete about turn. At the end of the sailing season it announced that if you’d bought a boat in the EU – and it had never been in the UK – and you bring it here, even for a day, you’ll be charged VAT.”

2021 is seen as a grace period for those who have had a boat under the same ownership in the UK and EU to get it back . . . but the boat must have visited UK waters already to be eligible, so that it’s classed as ‘returning’.

Freedom to make new rules

Baron says the ‘returned goods’ concept is a simple “cut and paste” from EU legislation which the UK Government has chosen to follow at a point when it had complete freedom to make new rules.

“It [government] didn‘t have to do it this way and most boat owners caught in the trap will simply not return their boats to the UK to the financial detriment of the UK marine industry,” he says.

While the CA’s members campaigned and lobbied their local MPs, the treasury reply was a “standard, bland response which doesn’t address the concerns of some people having to fork out substantial additional sums to bring their boat back to the UK.”

He’s less than sanguine about the government’s response.

“We’re still seeking a meeting with HMRC,” Baron says. “Brexit is down the list behind covid. The cabinet’s bandwidth is completely taken over by covid which is a much more serious problem than a few yachtsmen having to pay VAT.”

But even those who aren’t caught in the VAT trap and who can make use of the grace period are in trouble. “People with boats in the Eastern Med are ‘stuffed’,” says Baron. “Getting back with covid restrictions and the 90 days ruling may very well be difficult.”

Thousands of boaters struggling

He estimates that several thousand boaters are struggling in one or more of the storm’s pathways, but it’s hard to say definitively as he hears people’s anxieties due to restrictions, not their ‘real life experiences’. Baron’s expecting to hear more about that when covid eases and the next barrier to travel arises – insurance.

“Even if we gain an extended visa,” he says, “people will need evidence of health insurance and that will need to cover repatriation costs. That’s going to be another complication as insurance companies are reassessing everything in the light of covid . . . and lots of yacht owners are over 70.”

His final words of advice for any boat owner revolve around paperwork.

“Carry all the documents you can muster,” he says. “We don’t know what the entry requirements will be for each EU port. But I’m confident we’ll get it sorted out.”

Images courtesy of Cruising Association.

The 26 Schengen countries are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Acknowledgement to Marine Industry News

For more information contact European Marine Services Ltd. 

     Marine Surveyors & Consultants | ADR Mediation  |  Expert Witness 
www.europeanmarinesurveys.com
Tel: (44) 01603 327 123