INFORMATION FOR BOATERS

1.
ENTRY AND SOJOURN
OF FOREIGN BOATS
AND YACHTS
INTENDED FOR
SPORTS AND LEISURE
IN CROATIA

1.1. ENTRY BY SEA

The commander of a vessel, which sails into the Republic of Croatia by sea,
is required to sail by the shortest route to the nearest port open for international traffic for the purposes of border control, and is required to perform the
following:
1. Pass through border control;
2. Verify the list of the crew and passenger who are on the vessel with the harbourmasters office or its branch office.
3. Pay the required navigation safety fees;
4. Pay the sojourn tax;
5. Report the stay of foreign nationals on the vessel accordingly with specific
regulations.
1.2. ENTRY BY LAND OR AFTER WINTERING
The commander of a vessel that has been brought to the Republic of
Croatia by land or is located in a harbour or another approved place within
the Republic of Croatia is required to do the following before going to sea:
1. Pay the required navigation safety fees;
2. Pay the sojourn tax;
3. Report the stay of foreign nationals on the vessel according to specific regulations.
1.3. NAVIGATION SAFETY FEE AND POLLUTION PREVENTION
An owner of a foreign boat or yacht intended for leisure, sport or recreation
which sails and stays in the internal waters and territorial sea of the Republic of
Croatia is required upon sailing to pay a fee for the safety of the vessel and the
prevention of pollution. By way of an exception the owner of a foreign yacht or
boat which is located in the Republic of Croatia at a permanent berth, if it does
not sail, pays the fee no later than the end of the current year. The amount of
the fee is set out in line with the formula from Table 1, and the amount of the
fee depends on the length and total propulsion power of the yacht or boat.
LENGTH (L)*
TOTAL POWER OF PROPULSION UNITS (P)**

L < 40m

L * 40m

PUK < 3000 kW

20xL + 2x P

7.500 HRK

PUK * 3000 kW

7.500 HRK

7.500 HRK

* LENGTH (L) is the length of the boat or yacht as specified in the documents of the boat or
yacht expressed in metres.
** TOTAL POWER OF PROPULSION UNITS (P) is the power of the engines as specified in
the documents of the boat of yacht expressed in kilowatts (kW).

1.4. FEE FOR USING AIDS FOR NAVIGATION SAFETY (LIGHT DUES)
Domestic and foreign yachts and boats pay a fee for using aids for navigation
safety within the internal waters and territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia.
The obligation of paying the fee comes into force when a vessel sails into a

harbour or arrives at an anchorage of the internal waters or territorial sea of the

Republic of Croatia. Domestic and foreign boats and yachts pay an annual fee and
it is for the current (calendar) year.
The amount of the fee is set out in line with the formula from Table 2, and the
amount of the fee depends on the length of the yacht or boat.
Boat (L* < 12m)

Lx10 HRK

Yacht (L * 12m)

Lx25 HRK

* LENGTH (L) is the length of the boat or yacht as specified in the documents of the boat or yacht
expressed in metres.

1.5. SOJOURN TAX

The owner or user of the vessel pays sojourn tax for themselves and all the people
who spend the night on the vessel at a flat rate. A vessel in this sense is considered
as any vessel longer than 5 metres with built-in bunks, that is used for holidays,
recreation and cruising, and that is not a nautical tourism vessel. The flat rate sojourn
tax is paid by boaters to the harbourmasters office before sailing out, or to harbourmasters branch office when they are staying and overnighting on the boat in nautical
tourism ports or at a berth in a nautical section of a port which is open to public traffic.
The harbourmasters offices and harbourmasters branches to whom boaters have
paid the flat rate of the sojourn tax are to issue a receipt regarding the payment of
the sojourn tax. The amount of the flat rate of the sojourn tax for boaters depends on
the length of the vessel and time for which the boaters have paid for. The receipt for
paying the sojourn tax must always be located in the vessel and the vessels commander is required to present it upon the request of an authorised person.
5-9 m

9-12 m

12-15 m

15-20 m

Over 20 m

up to 8 days

150 HRK

200 HRK

300 HRK

400 HRK

600 HRK

up to 15 days

300 HRK

350 HRK

400 HRK

500 HRK

800 HRK

up to 30 days

400 HRK

500 HRK

600 HRK

700 HRK

1.000 HRK

up to 90 days

600 HRK

650 HRK

750 HRK

850 HRK

1.300 HRK

up to 1 year

1.000 HRK

1.100 HRK

1.300 HRK

1.500 HRK

1.700 HRK

The flat rates of sojourn tax which boaters pay according to the length of the vessel and the
duration of tourist vignettes

1.6. AUTHORISATION OF VESSEL USERS

A vessel in the ownership of a natural person or persons, can, for the period of
sailing in the Republic of Croatia, carry the owner of the vessel, members of their
close family and persons whom the owner of the vessel has given written permission to. The owners signature on the written authorisation must be certified by an
appropriate local or foreign authority.
A vessel in the ownership of a legal person, which is sailing in the Republic of
Croatia, can, during the sailing, carry employees of the legal person or persons
authorised to use the vessel based upon the written authorisation.
In the text of the authorisation for a vessel in the ownership of a legal person must
be clearly written the name and surname of the responsible person of the legal
entity who has signed and verified the authorisation with a stamp, the period of
time to which the use of the vessel applies, the name and surname of the person
responsible for the command of the vessel if the vessel has no permanent crew
and the names of all the people who will stay on the vessel during the period of
the authorisations validity.
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4.
5.

Original copies of the following documents must be located on a vessel which

sails in the Republic of Croatia for the purpose of verification:
Proof that all fees have been paid;
Proof that the vessel is seaworthy;
Proof that the person who is commanding the vessel is capable of controlling the
vessel, in accordance with the regulations of the country under whose flag it is
sailing, and in accordance with the regulations of the Republic of Croatia.
Proof of third party insurance;
Proof of ownership or authorisation for use of the vessel.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Each vessel which comes into the customs territory of the EU can be subject to
control by the customs authority, whether of the Republic of Croatia, or of any
other EU member state. Therefore residents of the EU on a vessel should always
have evidence that customs and/or VAT has been paid for the specified vessel
in one of the EU member states, and evidence that the vessel has Community
status. Evidence that a vessel has Community status can be:
T2L document, or
The original invoice, or
Certificate from tax authority, or
Another available document about the payment of VAT

2.
DOCUMENTS ON
THE VESSEL

3.

1.
2.
3.

For the command of small boats and yachts a person must be qualified in accordance with the regulations of the state under whose flag the boat or yacht is
sailing, and if in the home state there is no such kind of written qualification for
the command of a boat, then the regulations of Croatia shall be implemented.
A person who is operating a boat or commanding a yacht of Croatian national
affiliation, depending on the category of the boat/yacht, must possess a
Certificate of Competence for the leader of a boat, or a Certificate of Competence
for the commander a yacht or a document/licence for operating boats/yachts
issued by the competent entities of foreign states recognised by the Ministry of
Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure. The list of recognised foreign documents/licences is available on the website of the MPPI:
http://www.mppi.hr/UserDocsImages/TABLICA%20(2)MoU%206-2_13.pdf.

LICENCES FOR
OPERATING SMALL
BOATS AND YACHTS

4.
SAILING OUT FROM
THE REPUBLIC OF
CROATIA

1.
2.

5.
REGISTRATION OF
FOREIGNERS IN
CROATIA

Before sailing out from the Republic of Croatia the commander of a vessel is
required to:
Pass through border control;
Verify the list of the crew and passengers who are on the vessel with the port
authority or branch of the port authority.
After completing the mentioned obligations, the commander is required to leave
the internal waters and territorial sea of the Republic of Croatia via the shortest
possible route.
The registration of foreigners who will be staying on a vessel should be submitted to:
the police station in charge of the control of passing state borders in the port in
which border control is performed if the foreigner enters on a vessel on which
they will stay,
a police authority or police station where the foreigner boards the vessel
Legal or natural persons who provide a berthing service in a harbour of nautical
tourism, if the foreigner first arrived on the vessel on which they will stay, are required to register the foreigners stay with the police (MUP), as well as any other
legal and natural person who provides a berthing service in a harbour for nautical
tourism to the same foreigners.

5.1. CITIZENS OF MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (EEA)

Citizens of member states of the EEA can enter the Republic of Croatia if:
1. They have a valid travel document or personal identification card,
2. They have no ban on entering or staying,
3. They present no threat to public order, national security or public health.
Citizens of member states of the EEA can enter the Republic of Croatia without
a visa or residence permit and stay in the Republic of Croatia for up to 3 months
from the date of entering the Republic of Croatia. A citizen of a member state of

the EEA who intends to stay longer than 3 months in the Republic of Croatia, is
required, no later than 8 days after the expiration of the 3 month stay, to register for temporary residence with the appropriate police authority in charge, or
police station according to the place of residence.

6.
CUSTOMS AND TAX
STATUS OF FOREIGN
BOATS AND YACHTS

1.
2.
3.

1.
A.
B.
2.
A.
B.
C.

7.
SAFETY AT SEA

Upon accession to the European Union (EU) on 1/7/2013 the Republic of Croatia
became a part of the customs union of the EU, which means that after that date
residents of the EU can no longer place their vessel in the temporary import
procedure in Croatia. Vessels which residents of the EU placed in the temporary
import procedure in Croatia before 1/7/2013, regardless of which flag they sail
under, can remain in the temporary procedure until the expiry of the deadline
of the temporary import which was approved by the appropriate customs office.
With the expiry of the approved deadline of temporary import EU residents are
required to complete the temporary import procedure in accordance with EU
regulations in one of three possible ways:
Releasing the vessel for free circulation, or
Re-exporting it to a third country (outside the EU), or
Transporting the vessel (under the T1 transit procedure) to another member
state of the EU.
If EU residents wish to release the vessel into free circulation in the Republic of
Croatia, they are required to submit a customs declaration to the appropriate
customs offices which will then calculate and charge the import duty and value
added tax (VAT), except in the listed following cases:
The import duty will not be charged in the following cases:
If the owner of the vessel submits evidence that the vessel has Community
status (proved by submitting T2L documents), or
By submitting documents with which the owner proves the preferential origin of
the item (EUR 1 issued no later than 30/6/2013)
VAT will not be charged in the following cases:
If the owner of the vessel provides proof that the VAT has already been settled
in another member state of the EU, or
If the date of the first use of the vessel was more than 8 years before the date of
the accession of Croatia into the EU, or
If the amount of VAT that the owner of the vessel needs to pay is less than
160 HRK (approx. 22 EUR).
For vessels in the ownership of residents of third countries placed in the temporary import procedure before 1/7/2013, upon the expiry of the temporary import
procedure they must also complete the procedure as in the case of EU residents. Similarly, if owners of vessels from third countries decide to release their
vessels into free circulation in Croatia the same conditions apply as for vessels
owned by EU residents. When persons from third countries decide to complete
the temporary import procedure by re-exporting the vessel outside the customs
region of the EU they can in the future seek permission of the temporary import
of the vessel in the EU again, and the procedure will be approved for them upon
the fulfilment of all prescribed conditions.
In the Republic of Croatia there exists a search and rescue service, which
consists of coast guard ships, special purpose vessels plus aeroplanes and
helicopters. A national centre for search and rescue, the Maritime Rescue
Coordination Centre, manages the service and it is on duty 24 hours a day,
whilst a continuous duty is also performed by eight port authorities, their branch
offices, coastal radio stations, lighthouses and search and rescue units. There
is a continuous duty on VHF channels 10 and 16, whilst the national call centre
telephone number for all sea-related needs is 155 (from abroad +385 51 155). In
the Republic of Croatia there is single telephone number for emergency cases
112. Speedboats, jet propelled boats and hovercraft can only be used in permitted areas, and which cannot be closer than 300 m to the shore.

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