Stating that with the regulation made, all marine vehicles carrying 12 or more passengers are included in the scope of compulsory insurance, Türk P&I’s General Manager Ufuk Teker said, “Boats in touristic regions such as Bodrum, Marmaris, and Antalya will have insurance now. As of May 1st, boats without insurance or the necessary guarantee will not be able to sail.”
It has become obligatory to take out insurance on cruise boats, the implementation starts on May 1st. To the communiqué published by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulatory and Supervision Agency (SEDDK) in March, excursion or recreational boats, yachts, commercial yachts, day trip boats, marine vehicles which carry 12 or more passengers and are used in marine tourism were included in the scope of compulsory liability insurance. They gave the stakeholders until May 1st to ensure the boats.
Türk P&I’s General Manager Ufuk Teker stated that with the Turkish Commercial Code, all marine vehicles carrying 12 or more passengers will incur bodily harm to the passengers and crew in possible accidents, they should be insured with liability insurance against damages that may be given to third parties and the damages they may cause to the environment, however, marine tourism vehicles have been excluded from the scope so far.
Sails are not allowed
Expressing that marine tourism vehicles are also included in the scope of the regulation made in the Tourism Incentive Law in 2021, Teker said, “In March, SEDDK gave a deadline of May 1st for boats with insufficient insurance limits to increase their coverage limits to the level required by the law, and for boats without insurance to make ensure. At the moment, the port masters do not allow the voyages of the marine vehicles that do not have the necessary guarantee.”
Ufuk Teker emphasized that with the new regulation, 3 thousand boats are covered by compulsory insurance and said:
“Which boats are these? Some boats organize day trips in tourist areas such as Bodrum, Marmaris, and Antalya. Some gulets make weekly trips to both the port areas and the Greek islands. There are also yachts. Their number reaches 3 thousand. Compulsory liability insurance has now been introduced for these boats. Some of these boats had insurance, but the insurance limits were not enough. Some had no insurance at all. These will now increase the coverage limits until May 1st, and those who do not have insurance will have insurance. Thus, tourists will spend their holidays with insurance coverage.”
400,000 dollars guarantee
Ufuk Teker answered the question, “How much will the insurance and premium of the marine vehicles be made?” as follows:
“Recreational boats are required to obtain insurance coverage of approximately 400 thousand dollars per passenger. For example, a vessel carrying 100 passengers needs an insurance coverage of $40 million. Marine vehicle liability insurance has very high coverage. As for the premium, we are talking about the amount that the buses carrying passengers on the highway in the city will pay for the liability insurance, in other words, we can say that it is around 1,500 dollars per year. For gulets, this amount is around a thousand dollars.”
