Αρχική Εκσυγχρονισμός του θεσμικού πλαισίου για τη δραστηριοποίηση των πλοίων αναψυχής και των τουριστικών ημερόπλοιωνΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟ ΤΡΙΤΟ ΕΠΑΓΓΕΛΜΑΤΙΚΑ ΠΛΟΙΑ ΑΝΑΨΥΧΗΣ ΣΥΜΦΩΝΑ ΜΕ ΤΟ ΔΙΚΑΙΟ ΑΛΛΗΣ ΧΩΡΑΣ Άρθρο 8 Όροι και προϋποθέσεις για την εκμετάλλευση πλοίων αναψυχής χαρακτηρισμένων ωςεπαγγελματικώνσύμφωνα με το δίκαιο άλλης χώραςΣχόλιο του χρήστη Jennifer Timinis | 18 Ιανουαρίου 2022, 13:31
  • Σχόλιο του χρήστη 'Jennifer Timinis' | 18 Ιανουαρίου 2022, 13:31

    To begin with congratulations on finally taking a step in the right direction as Greek yachting law is in urgent need of an overhaul. Unfortunately though the proposed law does not lift the cabotage currently in place and if Greece genuinely wants to be an acknowledged leading yachting hub the annual 21 day period should either be significantly extended or scrapped completely for the following reasons: 1. 21 charter days annually essentially is one charter or at most two. Owners who do decide to proceed with the hassle and expense of issuing the charter permit will only do this on the odd occasion where a charterer is fixed on visiting Greece. Owners will not proactively market their yachts as being available in Greece nor will they push to send their yachts to Greece under such terms. 2. Opening the market will bring significant revenue to the country on a whole for obvious reasons and in particular the islands, yachting industry service providers, refit yards and suppliers. Keeping the market closed has no financial benefit for the country as a whole and at most may benefit a small bubble of Greek owners of commercial yachts, if at all, as if the market is opened and Greece is allowed to become the leading place to cruise there will be more demand for yachts in Greece which will clearly including Greek flagged yachts. 3. The argument that preventing foreign flagged vessels from chartering locally will protect Greek crew is irrelevant as global yacht owners do not hire crew based on their nationality but on their skill, experience and qualifications. Greek crew, who are historically paid far less than crew based in the West Med, will have far more attractive job opportunities if foreign boats are allowed to cruise in Greece as what better than to hire experienced crew who know the Greek waters well and can handle port formalities etc. 4. In fact this limited charter period may have the opposite effect and rather than draw foreign yachts in simply encourage Greek beneficial owners looking to avoid paying VAT on their yachts to register their vessels on foreign commercial flags and charter them 2-3 weeks a year under the proposed charter permit to secure additional income when the yacht is not being used privately by the beneficial owner. 5. It is baffling as to why Greece is intent on "reinventing the wheel" and cannot simply follow the charter models in place in France and Italy which work well, are understood by the global yachting market and generate significant income for the countries. Greece needs to focus on implementing simple and straightforward procedures to bring in foreign yacht income. Foreign owners/charterers do not mind paying whatever is due within reason (VAT is significantly higher in most other European yachting hubs) but they do mind being forced into ridiculous bureaucratic adventures (setting up branch offices etc.) or visiting Albania to be able to start and end their charters and simply will not come to Greece if these are the options. 6. Local owners' concerns that by allowing foreign boats to charter in Greece will make their yachts less competitive due to the strict regulations and steep crew social contributions applied to Greek commercial yachts are well understood but surely the way forward is to simplify and reduce such onerous regulations for Greek owners as opposed to treating yachting in Greece as a private club at the detriment of the rest of the country due to loss of income. On a final note not related to the charter permit, the Greek Ships Registry needs rehauling as a matter of urgency. The endless lists of documents to register and delete from the registry are outdated and impossible to follow. Greece should have been ready to take over UK flagged yachts following Brexit but instead all such yachts have gone to Malta. Even Poland is doing a better job at marketing their flag! Moreover the requirement that a Greek flagged yacht must have a Captain fluent in Greek is absurd. Can one imagine if all Captains on Maltese flagged vessels had to speak Maltese? There are jobs available for all Captains on all flagged vessels if they are good at what they do and opening the market will only benefit such Greek Captains. Greece without doubt should be and can be the number one yachting destination but only with the right legal framework in place!