Liability for a yacht or boat accident does not rest only with the person at the helm. The captain’s fault, the legal position of the shipowner and the operator, the passenger carriage relationship, the cause of the accident and insurance cover are assessed together. The rules that apply to injury, death and damage to the boat may differ. At the first stage, personal safety must be secured; then evidence must be preserved, the right parties identified, and the time limit for each claim calculated separately.
A passenger falling overboard during a trip, two boats colliding and a chartered yacht running aground are often described under one heading in everyday speech. Legally, they may create different liability relationships. This article focuses on the private-law consequences of an accident under Turkish law. Where there is a foreign flag, a foreign party or an incident abroad, the applicable law and international jurisdiction are examined separately; a connection of the accident with Türkiye does not mean that Turkish law automatically governs every claim. For the first steps in Türkiye for foreign shipowners and insurers, see the article legal process after a ship accident in Türkiye.
What kind of accident determines the applicable rules?
The maritime commercial law provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code (TTK) apply as a rule to commercial ships. However, TTK Article 935(2)(a) extends important provisions, such as those on collision, salvage, limitation of liability and the shipowner’s liability for the fault of seafarers, also to yachts used for pleasure or sport. For this reason, it cannot be said that maritime commercial law is excluded entirely from the accident of a boat used privately. (TTK Articles 935, 1062 and 1286 et seq.)
A collision of two or more ships is a çatma (collision). If a faulty manoeuvre or a breach of a navigation rule by one boat causes damage to another without physical contact, TTK Article 1286(2) may also come into play. By contrast, a boat that runs aground on a rock by itself, or a passenger who falls down a staircase, is not a collision merely because it happened at sea. In such an event, the contract of carriage, the rental relationship, the duty of maintenance and the general tort provisions are examined.
The correct classification of the event affects the burden of proof, the limit of liability, the competent court and the limitation period. At the initial report, instead of making a definitive legal characterisation, the date, coordinates, weather and sea conditions, movements, persons and visible damage should be recorded factually. If the account changes later, it may become difficult to explain why.
When are the captain, owner, shipowner and lessor liable?
The captain’s personal fault and the shipowner’s liability
Failure by the captain to meet his duties of lookout, safe speed, route planning, weather assessment or safe manoeuvring may give rise to personal liability. However, for damage that the captain causes to a third party while performing his duties, the shipowner’s liability under TTK Article 1062 must also be examined. A shipowner cannot assume that it will be released from liability in every incident merely because it exercised due care; this provision is not exactly the same as the general liability for persons employed by others.
Under TTK Article 1061, the shipowner is defined as the owner who uses a ship at sea for the purpose of gaining profit. A person who operates another’s ship in its own name for the same purpose may also be treated as a shipowner in relation to third parties. Where the registered owner, the company that actually operates the boat and the person collecting the charter fee are different, these capacities must be separated on the basis of documents. For private pleasure yachts, the extending provision of TTK Article 935 is also taken into account.
A captain acting on behalf of his employer does not automatically lose responsibility for his own faulty act. On the other hand, the captain’s presence on board does not prove that the accident was caused by his error. Maintenance deficiencies, a sudden mechanical failure, incorrect technical information or the movement of another boat may all have contributed. For each person, the link between conduct and damage must be shown. For the employment relationship of a captain and crew, see the article yacht captain and crew labour rights.
Why rental and management agreements matter
In a bareboat charter, the use and handling of the boat may have been left to the lessee. In a crewed charter, the captain and technical management may remain under the control of the operator. The actual organisation matters as much as the name of the contract: who selected the staff, who arranged maintenance, who decided the route and who gave the safety instructions? For the details of the rental relationship, see yacht charter agreement.
Sharing liability between the owner and the management company does not remove the statutory rights of a third party who suffered damage. For example, the fact that the cost of maintenance falls on the owner is different from the duty to supervise maintenance being left to the manager. Internal cost sharing and recourse provisions are read together with the rules that determine, in external relations, who is liable and on what basis. For details, see yacht management agreement, authority and accountability.
How do collision damage to the boat and bodily injury differ?
If a collision was caused by the fault of one party only, the liability of that ship’s shipowner arises under TTK Article 1288. Where both ships are at fault, TTK Article 1289 provides for apportionment in proportion to the gravity of each fault for damage to boats and goods. If the degrees of fault cannot be determined or are equal, equal sharing applies. Under this special provision, the shipowners’ liability towards third parties for damage to goods is not joint and several. The fault and compensation regime for collisions of commercial ships is examined separately in collision of ships: fault and compensation.
In death, bodily injury or impairment of health, TTK Article 1290 applies differently: in a collision where both parties are at fault, the shipowners may be held jointly and severally liable to the injured person. Recourse between them is assessed according to the gravity of fault. Thus, in the same accident, a passenger’s claim for bodily injury and the claim for repair of the damaged boat may be directed at different persons, and the method of apportionment may differ.
If the collision results from an unforeseeable event or force majeure, or its cause cannot be determined, the consequence under TTK Article 1287 is assessed separately. The existence of a storm alone is not proof of blamelessness; whether warnings were heeded, whether the decision to sail was appropriate, and the mooring and avoidance options are all investigated. Under TTK Article 1294, fault in a collision is not determined on the basis of a presumption. No automatic conclusion may be drawn such as “the larger boat is wholly at fault because it struck” or “a boat at anchor is always blameless”.
Carrier liability for passenger injury
In commercial cruises or transport services, the provisions of the TTK on the carriage of passengers by sea apply where their conditions are met. TTK Article 1256 treats differently death and injury arising from a shipping accident as defined by the law, and bodily harm not arising from such an accident. Collision, capsizing, grounding, fire or a ship malfunction in the legal sense, and a fall caused by everyday carelessness, may not be subject to the same regime of proof.
In death or injury occurring outside a shipping accident, the burden of proving the carrier’s fault lies in principle with the claimant. In shipping accidents as defined by the law, however, the carrier is subject to a heavier liability structure and to special grounds of exemption. Even so, it must be shown that the event occurred during the carriage and the scope of the damage must be established. These provisions do not apply directly to a private guest trip where no passenger carriage relationship exists.
The limits linked to the person and type of damage under TTK Articles 1256 and 1262–1263, the loss of the right to rely on the limit under TTK Article 1267, and the general limitation regime for maritime claims must not be confused. The limit amounts are not compensation payable automatically in every file. Without determining the actual loss, the applicable contract or international instrument, the unit of account and the conditions for relying on the limit, no fixed payment can be promised.
Where a passenger expressly breaches a safety instruction or behaves dangerously, this may be taken into account in proportion to its effect on the occurrence of the accident or on the increase of the damage. On the other hand, having a passenger sign a waiver form does not remove the effect of mandatory safety and liability provisions. The content of the form and the general terms of the contract are also reviewed separately.
Which losses can be claimed for injury, death and boat damage?
Bodily injury and loss of support
Under TBK Article 54, medical expenses, temporary loss of earnings, the loss arising from reduced working capacity and the impairment of the injured person’s economic future may be assessed. The causal link between the medical diagnosis and the accident, the recovery process, permanent effects and the actual income must be documented. The same expense must not be claimed twice under different headings; for future losses too, a concrete medical and economic basis is required.
In a death case, under TBK Article 53, funeral expenses, treatment and work losses if death did not occur immediately, and loss of support come into question. Loss of support is not merely a right that depends on being an heir. It is important for a person who regularly benefited from the deceased’s support to prove the relationship and the reasonable expectation of support. An inheritance share and a compensation share are not calculated by the same method.
Under TBK Article 56, the injured person’s claim for non-pecuniary damages, and in the case of death the claim of close relatives, may also be assessed. There is no fixed tariff for this claim that applies to everyone. The gravity of the event, the closeness of the relationship and other concrete circumstances are evaluated. Deductions of social security payments and insurance amounts are also examined according to the type of payment; not every payment is automatically deducted from the total loss. (TBK Articles 53–56)
Boat, equipment and loss of use
For damage to the boat, reasonable repair costs, the costs necessary for salvage and safekeeping, the residual loss in value after repair where the conditions are met, and loss of use or of earnings should be shown separately. Replacing old equipment with newer, higher-grade equipment does not justify charging the whole replacement cost to the accident. Earlier damage, normal wear and work unrelated to the accident must be separated out.
For a commercial loss of earnings, multiplying the daily rental rate only by the number of days the boat could not be used may not be enough. Actual bookings, the season, a reasonable repair period, expenses saved and the possibilities of reducing the loss are examined. For a boat used privately, presenting hypothetical commercial rental income as lost profit is not correct. The need for a replacement boat, or the economic consequence of being deprived of use, must be made concrete. For objections to a calculation in an expert report, see challenging an expert report in a lawsuit.
Which evidence should be preserved at the outset?
Rescue and medical treatment come before any collection of documents. Once safety is secured, the time and coordinates of the incident, the identities of the boats, the captain’s and witnesses’ details, the weather and the appearance of the damage should be recorded. Requests for the records of the coast guard, the port and the relevant rescue units should be made in time. Photographs taken without creating a danger should show not only the damage but also the surroundings, the position of the boat and the sea conditions.
- Originals of any AIS, GPS, chart plotter, camera and communication records should be preserved; differences in device clock times should be noted.
- The logbook, crew list, certificates of competency, maintenance records, the carriage or rental contract and the insurance policies should be collected together.
- In case of injury, the first medical consultation, diagnoses, treatment documents, records of work incapacity and income should be kept.
- If repair is unavoidable, the technical condition should be documented first; removed parts, quotations, invoices and payment records should be retained.
An expert report is useful, but the question the report answers is decisive. The damage-cost calculation by an insurance surveyor is not a judicial decision that settles the fault of all parties. In urgent evidence preservation, the special powers and notification rules of TTK Article 1292 apply; under this provision, the preservation report does not state fault ratios. The purpose of preservation is to secure facts that could later disappear, not to conclude the main action in advance. For the general framework of evidence preservation before a lawsuit, see evidence preservation.
How are an insurance claim and a damages action pursued together?
Insurance covering the boat’s own damage and third-party liability insurance are different products. The policy’s insured person, purpose of use, geographic limits, deductible, notification duties and exclusions must be read. The injured person’s direct claim against the liability insurer is assessed under TTK Article 1478 and any applicable special provisions. The existence of insurance alone does not show that all losses are covered. For exclusions and the refusal of a damage claim, see refusal of a yacht insurance claim.
When the insurer makes a payment, subrogation and recourse may arise. The part of the claim that remains with the right holder, such as the deductible, an incomplete payment or a loss outside coverage, must be separated from the claim taken over by the insurer. The same loss cannot be collected twice, from the insurer and from the liable party. It must be checked specifically whether a release signed in exchange for a payment covers only the amount received or all claims arising from the accident.
Salvage and an ordinary towing service are not the same thing. The conditions of TTK Article 1298 and the following provisions on the rescue of a vessel in danger, the service contract and the result obtained are examined. Instructions given in an emergency and the fee terms accepted should be recorded; the salvage costs to be directed at the person who caused the accident must be separated from the debt owed to the salvor.
Criminal investigation, court and time limits
Injury or death may become the subject of a criminal investigation. However, a complaint to the public prosecutor does not by itself collect a compensation claim, and it does not automatically suspend all time limits in the civil action. Under TBK Article 74, the civil judge is not bound in the same way by the fault criteria of criminal law, by an acquittal, or by the criminal judge’s assessment of damage or fault. The effect of material facts established in a final criminal judgment is assessed separately; the criminal file cannot be regarded as wholly unimportant.
For compensation claims based on a collision, TTK Article 1297 provides a two-year limitation period running from the event, and for certain recourse rights between shipowners a one-year period running from the date of payment. By contrast, in a passenger carriage relationship where TTK Article 1270 applies, the period for claims of death and bodily injury is ten years, and for other carriage claims it is two years. Under the general tort provisions, TBK Article 72 provides a two-year period from learning of the damage and a ten-year period from the act, and the possibility of a longer criminal limitation period is examined separately. Where an international convention, foreign law or a separate basis of liability applies, the result may change. A single period should not be declared for all sea accidents without identifying the basis of the claim and the acts that interrupt the limitation period.
Disputes under maritime commercial law fall within the jurisdiction of the commercial court of first instance, and the allocation of duties for maritime commercial matters is important. For a workplace accident, the labour court is relevant; for consumer relationships, special jurisdiction rules are examined separately. For commercial monetary claims, TTK Article 5/A may apply, and for consumer disputes a special mediation regime with its own exceptions may come into play. The need for urgent evidence preservation and interim legal protection should be addressed together with preparation of the main action. For precautionary attachment of the boat, see precautionary attachment of a ship and yacht.
In a decision of the 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay 11. Hukuk Dairesi) dated March 29, 2023, E.2022/1944, K.2023/1919, the ruling on loss of support and non-pecuniary damages arising from an accident between a ferry and a small boat was affirmed. The decision emphasises the shipowner’s liability for the captain’s fault in the course of his duties. Because the accident occurred in 2012, before Law No. 6102 entered into force, the former TTK provisions were applied. The fault ratios or compensation amounts in this decision cannot be carried over to other accidents; a current legal basis must be established separately.
Conclusion
A strong claim file in a yacht accident begins with identifying the type of accident and the real capacities of the parties. Damage to the boat and bodily injury must be separated; fault, causation and heads of loss must be established with appropriate evidence. While insurance procedures are running, the risk of limitation periods and of losing evidence must be monitored. Especially before any global release or settlement, it must be made clear which right will end.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the boat I was involved in was for private use, does the TTK not apply?
It does apply. TTK Article 935 extends collision and certain liability provisions to private pleasure and sport yachts as well. However, not all maritime commercial law provisions apply without distinction; the nature of the accident and of the claim is determined first. Detail: What kind of accident determines the applicable rules?.
Is it enough to sue only the captain?
It is not always enough. The shipowner, the carrier or another liable person may also need to be the target of the claim. The capacities, fault and contracts of the owner, the operator and the captain must be examined together. Detail: When are the captain, owner, shipowner and lessor liable?.
Is liability shared in the same proportion for injury and boat damage?
No, the same method does not apply to collisions where both parties are at fault. TTK Article 1289 provides for proportionate liability for property damage, and TTK Article 1290 provides for joint and several liability for bodily injury. Recourse between the parties is calculated separately. Detail: How do collision damage to the boat and bodily injury differ?.
Can compensation be claimed before the criminal case ends?
As a rule, yes. The effect of the criminal file on the civil proceedings is assessed separately. The continuation of the criminal process does not by itself preserve all the time limits for compensation claims. Detail: Criminal investigation, court and time limits.
Is it mandatory to obtain a court-ordered assessment before repairs start?
It is not mandatory in every case; however, it is important where the damage may disappear or the cause is disputed. Emergency safety and damage-mitigation measures should not be delayed, and technical records and parts that can be preserved should be kept. Detail: Which evidence should be preserved at the outset?.
If I receive the insurance payment, do I have no other claim left?
It does not end automatically. The unpaid loss and the scope of any release or settlement signed must be examined. Where the insurer has taken over the claim, double recovery is not possible for that part. Detail: How are an insurance claim and a damages action pursued together?.
Sources and legal bases
1 — Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 (6102 sayılı Türk Ticaret Kanunu): In particular Articles 5/A, 935, 1061–1063, 1247 et seq., 1256, 1262–1267, 1286–1298, 1328 et seq., 1472 and 1478. Official copy of the law from the Ministry of Trade. The dated compilation was reviewed for the provisions used.
2 — Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (6098 sayılı Türk Borçlar Kanunu): In particular Articles 49–56, 60–62, 72, 74, 112 and 115. Text as accepted by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM). The accepted text was not used as a current consolidated compilation including all amendments.
3 — Court of Cassation, 11th Civil Chamber (Yargıtay 11. Hukuk Dairesi): March 29, 2023, E.2022/1944, K.2023/1919. Access record for the full text of the decision. An affirmance decision concerning an accident under the former law; the full text was reviewed.
4 — Ministry of Justice, Mediation Department (Adalet Bakanlığı Arabuluculuk Daire Başkanlığı): Official explanations on mediation as a condition precedent to litigation and on the types of disputes. The statutory provisions and the institutional explanation were assessed separately. Source check: October 13–14, 2026.