Greece boat in bond, any experience

[gazzah]

Hi,

I am looking to buy a boat that is in Greece, EU and under custom bond.
I am told the boat has been on the hard for 2 years and I can buy it get customs to release from bond and then have 3 months to exit EU or pay the VAT.
Does anyone have any experience with buying a bonded EU boat?
Thanks
Gary

[gazzah]

The boat is no EU registered.

[RaymondR]

I'd be inclined to find out what may occur if you buy the boat and take it out of Greece's jurisdiction. What other country was it registered in and what is their viewpoint on the seizure. Could the original owner still have a claim regarding ownership and what might be the possible outcomes if they choose to challenge the legality of Greece's seizure.

[gazzah]

The boat is registered in South Africa.
It was placed in Greece customs bond April 2009 and taken out of bond on a few occasions for a few weeks. It was last placed back in customs bond on the hard in June 2012. I have a copy of the customs bond paperwork and copy of passport of person who placed it in bond and I am in contact with that person. The customs bond paper shows it expired Dec 2012.
Any advice/experience would be appreciated.
Also, who would I contact in Greece to advise and check paperwork? I have made contact with lawyer but no reply yet. Maybe customs agent would be better suited to offer advice and check paperwork?
Thanks

[Palarran]

I had placed Palarran in "Bond" several times. They take your transit log and stamp it, and keep it, until you are ready to launch. But I don't think you have as much time as you think. Also, since every place else doesn't read Greek, you might have a problem when you leave the area. I'd probably head directly to Turkey to reset your VAT clock.

Actually, I wouldn't pay the final 25% until the boat has been launched and has clear paperwork. Man the Greeks can turn very official if they want.

[gazzah]

My experience now that I have been through this:

Boat was placed in Greece customs bond in June 2009, stored pm hard in Aktio.
Boat was taken out of bond for 3 weeks in June 2012.
The Customs bond paperwork showed expiry of Dec 2012.
I bought the boat in December 2018.
Greek customs released the boat with new transit log. Procedure:
1. I had to show invoices for storage for entire period
2. Person who placed boat in bond had to send email to Greek customs to cancel the transit log.
3. I had to show Bill of Sale & Boat Registration in my name.
Customs said boat had to be taken out of EU the day it is launched as it had been in EU for so long. They did not enforce this.

[riki]

Hi.
Can i ask you how/where did you find the boat? Is there a site where you can check?
Cheers

[OzDean]

Hey Gazzah, I have had my boat on the hard stand at one of the Aktio yards the last couple of years. The Preveza Customs Office has been excellent. My boat is registered with an Australian Flag, so each time I visit to go sailing, for anything from 2 weeks to 3 months I take the boat out of Customs Bond, get a new transit log and "restart the clock". As I understand it, I can keep doing this until my time in the water gets to 2 years total, then I have to leave EU, show entry/exit somewhere else, Croatia is not far away, then I can re-enter EU.

[gazzah]

Riki,

I found it on https://www.networkyachtbrokers.com/
I scout the internet and use Google to alert me on any new listings that meet my criteria.
I would call David at Network Yacht Brokers as he has mentioned he has had a few boats like this. You will need to chase him as he is not very responsive.
Cheers
G

[gazzah]

Ozdean, Thanks for posting your experience.
Albania and Montenegro are even closer than Croatia and I understand worthwhile trips.