Dokumenty do sprzedaży jachtu w Grecji
Every certificate, licence and receipt a Greek buyer's lawyer will ask for — and the order to collect them in.
The documents needed to sell a boat in Greece decide how quickly a sale closes far more often than the asking price does. A yacht with a complete file changes hands in weeks. A yacht with a missing registration certificate, an unprovable VAT history or an unpaid marina account sits at anchor while lawyers exchange letters and the buyer quietly starts looking at other boats. Greece holds vessel records in more than one place — the port authority of registry, the Register of Ships and the state's electronic vessel register — and any competent buyer's advisor will check each of them. This guide lists every paper you need, explains what each one proves, and names who issues it. Collect the file before you list, not after you have an offer on the table.
The short version
- European Yacht Brokers sells on a flat 5% commission — no listing fee, no photography fee, and no charge if you withdraw the boat.
- Greece maintains an electronic vessel register covering private recreational vessels flying the Greek flag, commercial recreational vessels regardless of their flag, and professional tourist day ships.
- The documents needed to sell a boat in Greece fall into six groups: title, registration, VAT evidence, conformity, encumbrances, and maintenance records.
- EU Directive 2013/53/EU covers recreational craft of hull length from 2.5 m to 24 m, which is where almost every privately owned yacht sold in Greece sits.
- We work across roughly 70 Greek marinas and boatyards and handle buyer enquiries in five languages: English, German, French, Italian and Polish.
The documents needed to sell a boat in Greece, in the order you should collect them:
Na tej stronie
- What the paperwork actually proves
- The documents needed to sell a boat in Greece, section by section
- Proof of ownership and title
- Registration, flag and the port authority
- VAT evidence and tax clearances
- Charter history and commercial registration
- CE conformity, engines and maintenance records
- The complete document checklist
- Najczęściej zadawane pytania
What the paperwork actually proves
Every document in a boat sale answers one of three questions: who owns the vessel, what is owed against it, and what it actually is. A Greek buyer's lawyer works through them in that order and stops at the first one you cannot answer.
Who owns it is settled by the title chain — the builder's certificate or the last bill of sale, together with the current registration certificate naming you as the registered owner. What is owed against it is settled by an encumbrance certificate from the registry, which shows whether a mortgage, a lien or a court order stands against the hull. What it is is settled by the CE Declaration of Conformity, the builder's plate, the hull identification number and the engine serial numbers, which together prove that the boat on the pontoon is the boat in the advert.
The documents needed to sell a boat in Greece are no more numerous than in Italy, Croatia or Spain. They are simply held in more places, and those places do not talk to each other. That is why an experienced broker opens a listing by asking for scans rather than for photographs of the boat.
If something is missing, say so at the start. A buyer will forgive a lost owner's manual that the builder can reissue. A buyer will not forgive discovering, three weeks into a deal, that the boat is still registered to a company that was dissolved years ago. Honesty about a gap in the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece costs you nothing; concealment costs you the sale.
Read as a set, the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece answer three questions: who owns her, what has been paid on her, and what has been done to her.
The documents needed to sell a boat in Greece, section by section
Below is the full set of documents needed to sell a boat in Greece, with what each one proves and who issues it. Not every line applies to every vessel — a small open boat will not carry a liferaft certificate — but a buyer will expect an explanation for any line you leave blank.
| Document | What it proves | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|
| Registration certificate | Flag, official number and the current registered owner | Port authority of registry, or the registry of the flag state |
| Bill of sale / title chain | An unbroken line of ownership from the builder to you | Each previous seller; originals held by the owner |
| Encumbrance certificate | That no mortgage, lien or arrest stands against the vessel | The registry where the vessel is recorded |
| VAT evidence | That VAT was accounted for in the EU, or that an exemption applies | Original invoice, customs entry, or the tax authority |
| CE Declaration of Conformity | The craft was lawfully placed on the EU market | The builder, or the private importer who first placed it on the market |
| Builder's plate and owner's manual | Design category, maximum persons and hull identification number | Stocznia |
| Insurance certificate | Cover in force up to the day of handover | Insurer |
| Berth agreement and dues receipts | That the marina or boatyard has no outstanding claim | Marina or yard operator |
| Engine and generator service record | Hours run, servicing intervals and any major works | Yard or authorised service agent |
| Safety equipment certificates | Liferaft, EPIRB and extinguishers serviced and in date | Approved servicing station |
Scan every one of them and keep the file in a single folder. When an offer arrives, the whole set goes to the buyer's lawyer in one email — and that single email is often what turns a serious enquiry into a deposit.
Proof of ownership and title
Of all the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece, title is the one that cannot be worked around. It is proved by a chain, not by a single sheet, and the chain starts with the builder and ends with the paper that names you.
If you bought the boat new, the builder's invoice and certificate of origin begin the chain and you are its only link. If you bought second-hand, you need the bill of sale that transferred the vessel to you, and ideally sight of the one before that. Greek practice is to notarise the transfer, and the notarised deed is what a Greek buyer expects to see rather than a private receipt.
Company-owned boats add a layer. Where the registered owner is a company, the buyer's lawyer will want the company's certificate of good standing, the resolution authorising the sale, and evidence that whoever signs has authority to bind it. Where the company itself is being sold rather than the vessel, that is a different transaction with a different document set, and it needs a lawyer from the first conversation.
Inherited boats are the slowest cases we see. Probate, acceptance of the inheritance and the transfer at the registry all have to complete before a sale can, and none of them move quickly in August. Start them the day you decide to sell. Our complete guide to how to sell a boat in Greece sets out the wider timeline that sits around this step. Settle title first; the remaining documents needed to sell a boat in Greece can be gathered alongside it.
Registration, flag and the port authority
The registration certificate tells a buyer which legal system the boat lives in, and it is the document that most often needs work before a sale.
A Greek-flagged private yacht is recorded at the port authority of its port of registry, and larger vessels are entered in the Register of Ships. Separately, Greece runs an electronic vessel register covering private recreational vessels flying the Greek flag, commercial recreational vessels regardless of their flag, and professional tourist day ships. A boat can therefore appear in two systems at once, and the two have to agree with each other before a transfer is straightforward.
Three faults appear often enough to check before you list. The registered address is out of date, so official notices never reach you. The engine on the certificate is not the engine in the boat, because a repower was never recorded. Or the vessel's use still reads as commercial when it has been private for years, which changes the tax treatment of the sale.
You can see what the state holds on your vessel through the gov.gr register of pleasure and tourist vessels. Registration sits at the centre of the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece, because every other paper is checked against it. Correcting an entry takes days; discovering the error mid-sale costs weeks.
VAT evidence and tax clearances
VAT is the most common reason a Mediterranean boat sale collapses, and it is a documents problem rather than a tax problem.
What a buyer wants is evidence that VAT has been accounted for somewhere in the EU and has not since been unwound. The strongest evidence is the original invoice from an EU dealer showing VAT charged and paid. Next best is the customs entry from an importation, with the duty and VAT receipts attached. Weakest — and routinely refused by a careful buyer's lawyer — is a previous owner's assurance that VAT was paid at the time.
Boats that have spent long periods outside EU waters, boats bought from non-EU flags, and boats once owned by a company that reclaimed the VAT all need particular care. So do craft that entered under temporary admission. Greece publishes the customs treatment of private pleasure boats through the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, and those rules govern what your file has to show.
Alongside VAT sit the routine clearances: evidence that annual cruising dues are paid and that nothing outstanding against the owner could attach to the vessel. Our separate guide to VAT on second-hand boats in Greece works through each scenario. Among the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece, this is the folder to open first.
Charter history and commercial registration
A boat that has ever been chartered carries a second set of papers, and Greek buyers know to ask for them.
Commercial recreational vessels are recorded in the state's electronic register regardless of the flag they fly, which means a charter history is visible rather than inferred. If your boat has been on a commercial register, the buyer's lawyer will want the entry, the date it went on, the date it came off, and the tax treatment that applied while it was earning.
Two of these matter more than the rest: the deregistration from commercial use, which fixes the date the boat became private again, and the service record for the period in charter, which shows the boat was maintained to a commercial standard rather than run into the ground. Charter fleets cannot afford breakdowns, so charter boats are often better maintained than private ones — and the paperwork is where you prove it. A charter history adds these two items to the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece.
Do not hide it. It shows in the register, in the engine hours and in the wear on the upholstery. Disclose it, price for it, and let the maintenance file do the arguing. Our guide to selling an ex-charter yacht covers the commercial side in full.
CE conformity, engines and maintenance records
The final group of the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece describes the vessel as an object rather than as property. This is where a survey either goes smoothly or turns into a renegotiation.
The CE Declaration of Conformity and the builder's plate establish that the craft was lawfully placed on the EU market and record its design category and maximum persons. The recreational craft rules under Directive 2013/53/EU as published by the European Commission apply to hull lengths from 2.5 m to 24 m, so almost every privately owned yacht in a Greek marina falls inside them. If the boat has been substantially rebuilt or re-engined, the conformity position may have changed, and that needs stating rather than hoping.
Then the service file itself: engine and generator hours, oil and impeller intervals, sail inventory and dates, rigging replacement, antifoul and anode records, liferaft and EPIRB servicing, and the fire extinguisher certificates. Every entry should have an invoice behind it. A folder of invoices in date order is the cheapest way to add value before preparing your boat for sale, and it feeds directly into how to price your boat against the rest of the market.
Service history is the last of the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece to be assembled and the first a surveyor asks for. Buyers pay for evidence, not for reassurance.
The complete document checklist
Work down this list. When every line is ticked, the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece are complete and your broker can go to market without a caveat.
| # | Item | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Registration certificate, current and in your name | Port authority of registry |
| 2 | Bill of sale or builder's certificate of origin | Your own file; notarised copy |
| 3 | Encumbrance certificate, freshly dated | The registry |
| 4 | VAT invoice or customs entry | Original dealer, or customs |
| 5 | CE Declaration of Conformity | Stocznia |
| 6 | Owner's manual and a photograph of the builder's plate | Builder; the boat itself |
| 7 | Insurance certificate | Insurer |
| 8 | Marina or yard statement showing a nil balance | Marina office |
| 9 | Engine and generator service history | Service agent |
| 10 | Liferaft, EPIRB and extinguisher certificates | Approved servicing station |
| 11 | Inventory list, signed and dated | You, with your broker |
| 12 | Commercial deregistration, if the boat has ever chartered | The registry |
Item 11 is the one owners skip. An inventory signed before viewings begin prevents the argument about whether the tender, the outboard and the cockpit table were ever part of the deal. It is the cheapest of the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece to produce, and the one that prevents the most argument.
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Jakie dokumenty są potrzebne do sprzedaży łodzi w Grecji?
You need proof of title, a current registration certificate, an encumbrance certificate, VAT evidence, the CE Declaration of Conformity, insurance, a nil-balance marina statement, and the engine and safety service records. A signed inventory completes the file. Together these are the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece.
Czy mogę sprzedać bez oryginalnej faktury VAT?
Yes, but expect a lower price and a slower sale. A customs entry, an importation receipt or a written confirmation obtained through the tax authority can substitute. A buyer's lawyer will not accept a previous owner's verbal assurance, so start rebuilding the evidence well before you list.
Czy prywatny ogląd wymaga jakichkolwiek dokumentów?
Nothing from the buyer, but you should have the file ready. Serious buyers ask to see the registration certificate and the service record during a private viewing, and producing them on the spot is what separates a prepared seller from a hopeful one.
Ile trwa poprawienie błędu w rejestracji?
A change of address or a corrected engine entry usually takes a few working days at the port authority. A change of registered owner following an inheritance takes considerably longer, because probate has to complete first. Neither moves quickly in August, when offices run reduced hours.
Kto przechowuje dokumenty między ofertą a finalizacją?
Originals stay with you until completion. Your broker circulates certified scans, and the buyer's lawyer inspects the originals at handover, when the signed bill of sale and the vessel change hands together. Never release originals against a promise of payment.
Czy potrzebuję prawnika do formalności?
For a straightforward private sale, a broker and a notary are usually enough. Company-owned, inherited or ex-charter vessels need a maritime lawyer, because the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece then include corporate and tax filings that a broker cannot properly verify.
Not sure what your file is missing?
Send us the boat's details and we will tell you which of the documents needed to sell a boat in Greece you already hold, which are missing, and how to replace them. Flat 5% commission, no listing fee, no charge if you withdraw.
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