What are the most important documents on the yacht?

Just like cars, yachts have their documentation. But it's a bit more complicated because of how different the requirements in different countries can be. However, regardless of these requirements, three documents are the most important:

• Charter yacht certificate (otherwise known as yacht's license) - the vessel's registration certificate. It contains data about its owner as well as basic technical parameters.
• Yacht insurance confirmation.
• Crew list - list of all persons staying on the yacht during the voyage. Approach to this document varies from country to country, however, regardless of this, it is necessary to have a list that is consistent with the actual crew’s personal data on board at all times.

Apart from these three required documents, all the rest will probably not be needed during a possible inspection.

What should you keep in mind regarding the yacht's documents?

• When receiving them, it's a good idea to look through the briefcase (this is the form in which all the documents are usually kept) so that if you have any doubts, you can dispel them immediately.
• Keep your documents in a safe place. The exchange of documents is expensive and problematic, so losing or destroying them can cause you many problems.