Commercial terms

Terms in the Commercial category of the superyacht tender glossary.

What this category covers

Commercial entries cover the money and paperwork side of owning, buying, selling, and chartering a tender or chase boat. That includes brokerage terms (MOA, deposit, escrow, survey allowance), tax and import vocabulary (VAT, temporary admission, import duty), finance and leasing language, charter contracts, and the warranty and service-agreement words that come up at handover.

Why it matters

For owners and family offices, the commercial terms decide what a boat actually costs and what protections sit around the deal. Two identical tenders sold at the same headline number can have very different total costs once VAT treatment, finance structure, and warranty cover are factored in. The vocabulary in this category is what makes those differences legible before contracts are signed.

For brokers and shipyards, this is the working language of every transaction. A clean MOA, a clearly worded sea trial clause, and a survey deficiency list that both sides understand are how deals close on time. Loose terminology is how they fall apart.

For captains and project managers, commercial terms come up most often at handover and at refit. Knowing what is in scope under a yard warranty, what triggers a punch list re-inspection, and how a charter contract shifts liability between owner and charterer keeps the season running and the year-end paperwork clean.

Where it shows up