Legal frame Pomorski zakonik art. 9.a; Pravilnik o uvjetima za obavljanje djelatnosti iznajmljivanja plovila sa ili bez posade i pružanje usluge smještaja gostiju na plovilu, NN 42/17 (in force 1 May 2017, unamended); MMPI Uputa za obavljanje charter djelatnosti v1.3, July 2026.
One regulation, two activities
The Maritime Code (art. 9.a) says that carrying people for payment on a yacht or boat, or hiring one out with or without crew, may be done only under a regulation of the Minister, made with the consent of the Minister of Tourism. That regulation is Pravilnik NN 42/17. It has 37 articles, no annexes beyond the crew-list form and, as far as the Narodne novine index shows, no amendments.
Article 2 splits charter (čarter djelatnost) into two activities:
| Croatian term | Meaning | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| Iznajmljivanje plovila | Hire to an end-user for leisure, with or without crew, without overnight accommodation, for a published price | No eCrew request needed (Uputa §2); invoice on board (art. 26(4)) |
| Pružanje usluge smještaja | Hire with or without crew for a period in which passengers sleep on board | eCrew, crew lists, tourist tax, reception base, handover |
The vessel must be a brodica or jahta in the Maritime Code sense, so ships (more than 12 passengers) are outside this regime. Day-boat and jet-ski hire sits in the first row; see Running a Boat or Jet-Ski Rental in Croatia.
Where it applies
- Croatian internal waters and territorial sea (art. 1(1)).
- Vessels handed to the end-user in a third country (Montenegro, Albania), for the part of the voyage in Croatia (art. 1(2)).
- Vessels handed over in another EU State (Italy, Slovenia) only where an article says so (art. 1(3)) - arts 29 and 31(2) are the ones that do.
Who may charter, by flag
| Flag | Rule (art. 3) |
|---|---|
| Croatian | Allowed |
| EEA (EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) | Allowed |
| Third country | Only with an odobrenje za kabotažu (cabotage approval) |
"Third country" is defined negatively (art. 2 pt 8): anything that is not Croatia and not an EEA State. For yachting that means the United Kingdom, the Cayman Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Isle of Man, Switzerland and the other usual superyacht registers. Schengen membership does not change the flag test.
WARNING - "EU-owned" is not "EU-flagged" The test is the flag the vessel flies. A Cayman-flag yacht owned by a German company is a third-country vessel; a Maltese-flag yacht owned by a Cayman company is an EEA vessel.
Who the charter company is
A charter kompanija is the owner or user of the vessel, or whoever has taken over responsibility for operating it by written contract, and with it the duties in the Pravilnik and in Croatian safety and pollution law (art. 2 pt 5). The Uputa adds that a foreign company may charter in Croatia on its own account if it obtains a Croatian OIB and VAT ID and appoints a tax representative (Module 1, lesson 3).
TIP - Read the Uputa with the Pravilnik The July 2026 Uputa (v1.3) is not law, and says so, but it is how the Ministry's charter desk applies the Pravilnik: the 24 m cabotage practice, the eCrew request and the inspection intervals all come from it.
Crossing references
Bareboat licence questions are in Bareboat Chartering in Croatia; the superyacht entry layer is in Foreign-Flag Superyachts in Croatia; the Italian equivalent is Chartering in Italian Waters.