Legal frame Pomorski zakonik arts 5, 77, 187–190 (zakon.hr consolidation, secondary); Pravilnik o brodicama, čamcima i jahtama NN 13/20 as amended by NN 52/20, arts 4, 41, 45 and Dodatak 11; MMPI charter instruction v1.3 (8 Jul 2026), §7.
What counts
- jahta: a sport and leisure craft over 15 m, built for longer stays, carrying no more than 12 passengers;
- jahta za gospodarske namjene (commercial yacht): a yacht intended for charter with or without crew (NN 13/20 art. 4);
- velika putnička jahta: 24 m or more and 13–36 passengers. These are excluded from NN 13/20, and their own technical rules were not found.
Who may register
| Owner | Route |
|---|---|
| Croatian person or company | Direct |
| EEA owner | With a Croatian operator or branch |
| Other foreign owner | With a Croatian operator, or where the yacht is "pretežno" (mainly) kept in Croatia (PZ art. 188) |
A foreign owner files a power of attorney. First registration over 24 m needs proof of ownership, technical acceptance and deletion from the previous register. Wreck-removal cover is required from 300 GT and bunker cover from 1,000 GT.
Who surveys
| Yacht | Surveyor |
|---|---|
| National navigation, any size | Hrvatski registar brodova (CRS, Croatian Register of Shipping) |
| International navigation, up to 24 m | CRS |
| International navigation, over 24 m | A recognised organisation (classification society) |
The svjedodžba o sposobnosti jahte za plovidbu (yacht fitness certificate) runs 5 years. Commercial yachts are surveyed every year, with an intermediate survey at the second or third anniversary and the dry hull at renewal. A temporary certificate lasts 5 months. Charter fleets of 10 or more craft up to 24 m may run a CRS-audited safety management system instead of individual surveys (NN 13/20 art. 45).
Convention certificates by size
For yachts over 24 m in international navigation (Dodatak 11, table 3.1.5-1):
| From | Certificates |
|---|---|
| all | Load Line, Tonnage |
| 300 GT | SOLAS radio |
| 400 GT | IOPP, IAPP, AFS, BWM, IEE; sewage from 400 GT or more than 15 persons |
| 500 GT | SOLAS construction and equipment, ISM SMC, ISPS ISSC, MLC |
AIS class A is required on all yachts in navigation areas I and II, and on commercial yachts chartered with professional crew in area III.
Tonnage tax
A commercial yacht in international navigation may enter the tonnage-tax system. That means one with permanently embarked crew making at least half its voyages to or between foreign ports or on the high seas (PZ art. 429). Whether it suits a given yacht is a question for the owner's tax adviser.
TIP — The crew list follows the flag Registering under the Croatian flag brings the yacht into the Glava X manning table (lesson 2.3) and the Croatian titles. A Croatian-flag 30 m charter yacht needs a zapovjednik jahte B, not an MCA Master 500 GT alone.