Baleares, one of the Autonomous Communities where the nautical charter has the most specific weight in its economy, has taken a further step to promote this activity, the Albores Galiano Portales. Govern Balear published the procedure of hearing and public exhibition of the future decree regulating the activity of the rental of vessels and recreational vessels (nautical charter), which will take a further step in the simplification, rationalization and unification of the procedure in order to carry out the activity. The new decree will enter into force on the day following its publication in the BOIB, which is expected to take place within two months. The future legislation introduces as a main improvement the compilation in a single legal text of the previous legislation on this activity, so far regulated by several rules, obsolete in some of its sections, especially in relation to Law 14 / 2014 of 24 July, on Maritime Navigation, which entered into force on 25 September 2014. Other measures in favour of the future rule include:

• The possibility of renting registered recreational vessels and vessels in countries not belonging to the European Union or signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) is maintained.

• The system of responsible declaration is generalised, from now on it will also apply to recreational vessels and craft which are not members of the European Union or are signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). It simplifies and unifies the time limits for the activity.

• The same documents as are available to the lessor are maintained. In view of the generalisation of the system of responsible declaration, the translation of documents produced in the foreign language shall not be required a priori, except where required by the Administration.

• The declaration of responsibility and the renewal of the declarations requested from 1 January 2017 shall be valid for two years, as compared with the one year in the previous legislation.

• While it is recognized that it is not strictly a lease, the possibility that vessels may also be placed on the market for places, provided that it is with crew.

• The new regulation includes the possibility of the use of recreational vessels and vessels registered in the Special Register of Ships and Shipping Companies (Canary Islands) for the rental of recreational vessels.

• The Balear Register of Arrowers, Embarkations and Recreation Ships, an administrative autonomous public register of the companies that have made the responsible declaration and the declared vessels and vessels, is hereby established. This register is intended to control the illegal charter that occurs mainly in the area of small length.

The activity of the nautical charter is one of the economic subsectors that is most contributing to the growth of the nautical sector over the last three years. The entry into force of Law 16 / 2013 of 29 October 2013, which provides for certain measures in the field of environmental taxation and other tax and financial measures, including the elimination of the registration tax for new and used recreational or nautical sports vessels intended exclusively for the use of rental activities, has been one of the measures that has contributed most to the development of the charter business.

Text: Albores Galiano Portal (Maritime Cluster)
Photo: Mallorca Nautic