Captain charter, crewed charter, and bareboat charter. What is the difference?
Captained or crewed charter
The two terms are essentially the same depending on where you charter the boat.
In the US, generally the term ‘captained charter’ is used and in other areas the term ‘crewed charter’ may be used.
Worldwide, there may be other words to denote the situation where the rental company has employees or a list of approved captains and/or crew and they operate the boat. The boat owner generally pays those personnel and you have no involvement in the hiring.
On the larger size, if you take a ferry, or water taxi ride, go on a fishing charter or a sunset cruise charter, those generally are captained charters.
The ferryboat captain and the crew operate and manage the boat, and you are a guest aboard.
Small boat charters could be a charter on a lake with a fishing guide and only you, or a half-day or full day on a bigger boat. We regularly see this in destinations such as the Caribbean Sea, the Med and other places where interesting locations are offered.
The captain and crew are not your employees and are generally paid by the charter boat owner, representative, booking agent or vessel manager.
Bareboat or demise charter
In the case of bareboat charter, generally you and or a group of friends charter a boat for a fixed period. It could be for a half-hour, e.g., a jet ski rental, or a longer period agreed between you or your group and the charter boat owner, representative, booking agent or vessel manager.
You or group members operate the boat. You pay for vessel stores (grub, rum, and victuals), fuel, and operating costs.
In certain instances, a bareboat charter could be a demise charter.
A demise charter is a charter where you rent the boat for a certain period, (a time charter) and you hire a captain and crew, as necessary.
You pay for vessel stores (grub, rum, and victuals), fuel, and operating costs.
As you can see, there is some blurring of the lines amongst the charter terms.
We see bareboat charters in vacation destinations when the charterer wants to control the cruising itinerary and operate the boat himself or herself.
If you rent the boat and hire a captain and crew to do the work that could be a demise charter.
None of the above is carved in stone. It is for informative purposes only.
There are as many variations as there are boats, yachts, and ships. Check with your charter operator, read the charter contract, get legal advice if you need clarification and have fun-the point of the charter!
