Turkey: fine for exceeding legal boat capacity

[StuM]

Possibly they only supply 6 lifejackets and that sets their "legal limit"

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by sailingabe41ds

Why not call the Turkish authority or equivalent of their coast guard and ask them that question?
Abe

:snerk: I wouldn't count on a useful, accurate answer in countries where rule of law is well developed, let alone someplace like Turkey or the USA.

[asvk]

Originally Posted by StuM

Possibly they only supply 6 lifejackets and that sets their "legal limit"

Hm... Maybe you are right -- it didn't occur to me that way. I will ask them again clearly explaining that we have enough personal lifejackets

By the way, an adjacent question: can there be any problems from taking two people not mentioned in the crew list for a short inshore trip? I'd expect not -- since otherwise it'd be complicated to take people for daily leisure trips without prior formalities (which I guess happens when tourists rent a boat with a skipper for a few hours).

[Stevenc]

We chartered in Greece some years back. One of our group picked up a friend at a port for a day sail. She was promptly removed from the vessel by the charter company claiming insurance issues.

[petertheking]

It is not to do with the boat category but I would assume insurance. The boat can certainly take more people and weight, but does it have the correct safety kit and insurance for more people.

Most boats I work on only have a 6 person liferaft and 8 lifejackets so legally can only take a max of 6, regardless of the amount of seats / bunks / design numbers.

Personally I would not, as if the worst happened you would be personally liable ie wind and sea picks up, keel falls off, you sink, but 2 people drown as not enough space in liferaft. Can you defend yourself in a manslaughter charger?

[taxwizz]

Whatever you do....
Don't forget to count life jackets.

[Stewie12]

If you have an accident the insurance may not cover it. That would include third party cover.

[SaltyMetals]

I may have a solution for you. In many countries children count as HALF an adult so since you are two adults and two kids that makes 3 "persons" in total. Hence you would have room for two adult friends.
Ask Allegory, he is Turkish and would know if this 1/2 rule applies.
Andrew
"Genial Bee"

[waterman46]

The Oceanis 31 has berths for 6 adults. The kids don't add any significant weight. If inspected by coast guard or police, they will be more interested in you having appropriate life vests on board for everyone, even the kids, and the kids should be tethered at all times while not below deck.

[Mithril Bham]

I think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill. In the US a commercial charter run by a hired captain can't take out more than six people unless the boat is CG Certified. I don't know about Turkey but I doubt if anyone would care since it appears to be a bareboat charter.

[OS2Dude]

If you have to, put your friends in a dingy if the CG shows up. . .

[allegory]

Originally Posted by asvk

Thank you allegory!



We will be sailing in the Gulf of Fethiye and anchoring for lunch somewhere in Skopea Limani. We have sailed there 4 times already and never encountered the Turkish coast guard.



We were not planning to do anything attracting attention and thought of just having a peaceful few hours cruise to show my friends around.





Do you maybe know the order of the amount to have? Is it like a few thousands or hundreds?

Of course I hope for our smiles but it's better to be prepared for the worst

I would say hundreds ( in US$) Fethiye especially the area around butterfly valley amazing. You should be okay. Fair winds

[redneckrob]

I'll admit this is rank speculation from the perspective of a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer who knows nothing about Turkish Coast Guard regulations. But we certainly didn't have a list of every boat ever made and it's maximum number of passengers, so I'd be shocked in the Turkish Coast Guard did. I'd guess there's a combination of language barrier and potentially knowledge gap of the person you're talking to or they're talking about insurance issues. But I think the chance of issues with the Coast Guard is vanishingly small.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

I'll admit this is rank speculation from the perspective of a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer who knows nothing about Turkish Coast Guard regulations. But we certainly didn't have a list of every boat ever made and it's maximum number of passengers, so I'd be shocked in the Turkish Coast Guard did. I'd guess there's a combination of language barrier and potentially knowledge gap of the person you're talking to or they're talking about insurance issues. But I think the chance of issues with the Coast Guard is vanishingly small.

They will simply use the RCD category rating as stamped on the plate on the boat , the charter company may have an insurance upper limit however.

Note that a cat A boat is still able to carry more people then just cat A rating , it’s just downgraded as a result.

[asvk]

Wow, so many useful replies. Thank you, people, I am positively impressed with my first experience at this forum!

The insurance related ideas seem to be closest to the truth IMO. Indeed, it might turn out that nonwithstanding the "physical" (coming from design/licensing) capacity, there is a factor of insurance and a limited number of people.

Originally Posted by petertheking

Personally I would not, as if the worst happened you would be personally liable ie wind and sea picks up, keel falls off, you sink, but 2 people drown as not enough space in liferaft. Can you defend yourself in a manslaughter charger?

I agree and if we were six adults, not 4 adults + 2 small (1 and 2 y.o.) kids on board, going somewhere further/rougher than a cozy bay (from a cozy familiar marina in that bay) on a nice calm day, I'd not take that risk. Honestly, I don't want / won't take any unnecessary risk associated with possible physical harm to people, the only thing I could tolerate is some reasonable fine from not being completely compliant with some purely legal issues... But I get your point and agree with it.

Originally Posted by Mithril Bham

I think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill [...] I doubt if anyone would care since it appears to be a bareboat charter.

I tend to come to the same feeling after reading the replies. Well, this is good and means that those were useful!

Originally Posted by taxwizz

Whatever you do....
Don't forget to count life jackets.

The lifejackets topic is important and for sure everyone will have a proper lifejacket, otherwise we won't go.

Originally Posted by allegory

I would say hundreds ( in US$) Fethiye especially the area around butterfly valley amazing. You should be okay. Fair winds

Good to know, thank you (for the wish as well)

Originally Posted by SaltyMetals

In many countries children count as HALF an adult so since you are two adults and two kids that makes 3 "persons" in total. Hence you would have room for two adult friends.

Thank you Andrew, but this logic won't help as 4 adults (we are) + 0.5*2 (kids) + 2 (more adults) = 7 which is greater than 6

Originally Posted by OS2Dude

If you have to, put your friends in a dingy if the CG shows up. . .

Good one

Again, thanks to everyone for your replies! You have been helpful and kind