Terms of engagement

The Yachting Agent is a trading name of The Maritime Consultancy Ltd (Company No. 13436865), registered in England and Wales. References to "we", "us" and "our" mean that company.

Yacht.Delivery is a sister trading name of the same company and operates under separate engagement terms for crew supply and delivery work.

We provide shore-side passage management and operational support: planning, documentation, appointment and coordination of local agents, port and authority liaison, naval reporting liaison where applicable, corridor briefing, and a staffed desk during an active passage.

We act as coordinator and, where instructed, as disclosed agent for the yacht in dealings with third-party suppliers. Third-party services are supplied on those suppliers' own terms.

We do not command, navigate or crew the yacht, and we do not provide armed security services.

The master remains in command at all times and is solely responsible for the safety of the yacht, her crew and her passengers, including the decision to sail, to divert, to alter routeing or to remain in port.

Our advice, briefings and operational updates are decision support. They do not transfer any part of the master's or owner's responsibility, and they do not replace the yacht's own risk assessment, ISM or equivalent procedures.

Work begins once a written scope and fee have been agreed. Fees are quoted per passage, per corridor or on a retained basis and are stated exclusive of third-party costs.

Third-party disbursements (agency fees, canal dues, pilotage, port charges, bunkers, transfers, clearance costs) are passed through at cost against supporting documentation and are normally funded in advance for the ports concerned.

Invoices are payable within 14 days unless otherwise agreed in writing. Advance funding for disbursements is required before those commitments are placed.

Passage plans change. Where a transit, booking or appointment is moved or cancelled, third-party charges already incurred or contractually committed remain payable.

Either party may end a retained engagement on 30 days' written notice. Work in progress on a live passage is completed to a safe handover point before an engagement ends.

We perform our services with reasonable skill and care. We are not liable for the acts, omissions or failures of third-party suppliers, agents, authorities or naval organisations, nor for delay, detention, weather, security events or authority decisions outside our control.

Except for liability that cannot lawfully be limited, our total liability arising out of an engagement is limited to the fees paid to us for that engagement, excluding disbursements.

We do not accept liability for indirect or consequential loss, including loss of charter, loss of use, or loss of profit.

Operational information we provide is compiled from official and network sources and is time-stamped. Its accuracy at any later moment cannot be guaranteed.

We treat yacht names, owner identities, itineraries and commercial terms as confidential and do not publish them. Case material on this site is anonymised.

These terms and any engagement under them are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.