Harbour, berth and lock
Loose lines in a storm surge: the owner pays for the neighbour's boat
Higher Regional Court of Schleswig (OLG), Judgment 5 March 2026, Case no. 11 U 80/25
What happened: Two motor yachts lay side by side in a marina on the Schlei, a Baltic inlet in northern Germany. Before travelling abroad, one owner simply laid his bow lines loosely over the mooring piles. In the Baltic storm surge of October 2023 the lines slid up and off the piles and his boat drifted into the yacht next to it.
What the court decided: He has to pay about 23,000 euros, and the ruling is final. Given the forecast water levels, it was foreseeable that loose lines would slip off. Handing the keys to the harbour master and booking a haul out did not make the harbour master responsible for securing the boat while it was still afloat.
What owners can learn: Before a storm or high water, make lines fast so they cannot ride up a pile, for example with a knot that does not slip. If you go away, ask someone in so many words to look after the boat; leaving the keys is not enough.
Source: Court press release (German)
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Harbour, berth and lock
Mooring line parts in a hurricane: no liability if the boat was properly secured
Rhine Navigation Court of Appeal, Cologne, Judgment 30 July 2010, Case no. 3 U 44/09 BSchRh
What happened: During windstorm Kyrill in January 2007 the forward line of a motor yacht parted in a marina on the Rhine. The yacht struck the boat in the next berth, and that owner sued for damages.
What the court decided: The claim failed. A boat that breaks loose is at first presumed to have been badly moored, but this owner had used five lines of adequate size. The line broke because the floating pontoon heaved in an exceptional way that nobody had to foresee. A cross line to the neighbouring finger would have been sensible, yet leaving it out was not negligent.
What owners can learn: Good mooring protects you if you can prove it. Photos of your lines before a forecast storm are useful evidence, and chafe protection where a line runs over an edge keeps it whole.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Collisions
Cargo ship slides into the pontoons: the moving vessel is liable
Rhine Navigation Court, Duisburg-Ruhrort, Judgment 12 April 2018, Case no. 5 C 19/17 BSch
What happened: In January 2017 an empty inland cargo ship was asked to break ice on a frozen gravel lake by the Lower Rhine. Its bow thruster failed, it slid into a yacht club's pontoons and damaged motor yachts moored there. The hull insurer of one yacht paid out and then recovered the money from the ship.
What the court decided: The ship's owner and master must pay 22,576.45 euros. When a vessel runs into a properly moored boat, the presumption is a navigation error by the moving vessel. The master could not rebut it, not least because he relied on the bow thruster alone in icy water and did not drop the emergency anchor.
What owners can learn: If your boat is properly moored, it is the other side that has to explain itself. Once your hull insurer pays, it can claim the money back from whoever caused the damage, so photos and witness names are worth collecting.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Harbour, berth and lock
A marina berth is a tenancy, and a tenancy can be ended
Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (OLG), Judgment 1 July 2025, Case no. 24 U 54/24
What happened: A couple live full time on a 22.7 metre motor yacht in a marina owned by a German city and paid their berth fee monthly. The marina claimed the berth had only ever been let month by month and demanded that they leave.
What the court decided: Under German law a berth agreement is a lease (sections 535 and following of the Civil Code, BGB). Paying monthly does not prove a fixed term, and the marina could not prove one. But it had also given ordinary notice during the appeal, so the lease ended and the owners must vacate the berth.
What owners can learn: Get the term and the notice period of your berth in writing. An open ended berth can still be terminated with notice, so liveaboards should line up an alternative in good time.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Harbour, berth and lock
Lock starts emptying while the owner pays the fee: the lock side is liable
Inland Navigation Court of Appeal, Cologne, Judgment 14 January 2000, Case no. 3 U 60/99 BSch
What happened: At a lock on the Moselle the lock keeper called the owner of a pleasure boat into the lock building to pay the fee. He started lowering the water while the owner's companion had also stepped ashore briefly. As the level dropped, the boat was left hanging in lines that could no longer be eased.
What the court decided: Liability for the damage was confirmed in principle, and the owner was not held partly to blame. With pleasure boats, lock staff cannot assume a trained crew is on board as they might with commercial shipping; the keeper should have waited or asked.
What owners can learn: Keep someone on board in a lock who can tend the lines. If you have to go ashore, tell the lock staff clearly that nobody is at the lines.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Yard, crane and winter storage
Yacht falls from the travel lift: the hull insurer pays the full sum
Regional Court of Cologne (LG), Judgment 11 December 2023, Case no. 20 O 18/23
What happened: In October 2022 a boatyard lifted a motor yacht out of the water with a travel lift, a mobile boat hoist. On the short way to its hard standing a beam broke and the yacht fell. The hull insurer paid only part, relying on a clause that limits cover for damage in transit.
What the court decided: The insurer must pay the agreed value of 1,030,000 euros. Moving the boat across the yard to a nearby spot is still part of hauling out, not transport. What counts is how an ordinary owner without legal training would read the conditions. This is a first instance judgment.
What owners can learn: Check whether your policy wording mentions lifting, hauling out and transport by name. Under German law, unclear standard terms are read against the party that wrote them.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Yard, crane and winter storage
Yacht topples in winter storage: the yard is liable despite a lease
Higher Regional Court of Schleswig (OLG), Judgment 22 August 2022, Case no. 16 U 114/21
What happened: In windstorm Christian in October 2013 a sailing yacht fell off its cradle in an open storage yard on the Baltic coast. A prop pierced the hull, causing more than 100,000 euros of damage. The contract was called a rental agreement and the operator's terms excluded liability.
What the court decided: The court treated it as a storage contract, because only the operator's staff had set the boat up and the owner was given neither a fixed spot nor any instructions. That meant the operator owed proper storage. The yacht was barely supported at the sides, which the court found grossly negligent. The owner's cover did not reduce the operator's liability.
What owners can learn: Before laying up, ask who blocks and secures the boat and get it confirmed in writing. What the contract is called matters less than who actually has the boat in their care.
Source: Court press release (German)
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Yard, crane and winter storage
Mast jams while being lowered: only damage to the mast is covered
Local Court of Cologne (AG), Judgment 26 July 2016, Case no. 138 C 221/16
What happened: While the mast was being lowered with a crane, it jammed in the deck opening and damaged the deck; a spreader was also bent. The insurer paid for the spreader but not for the deck.
What the court decided: The owner received only the 575 euros already accepted. The wording covered damage to masts and the consequences of that damage, not damage that an intact mast does to the boat.
What owners can learn: Policy wordings are read literally: damage to the mast is not the same as damage caused by it. When unstepping, have someone guide the heel of the mast and keep the deck opening clear.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Collisions
Collision during a parade of lights: German court, Dutch rules of the road
Inland Navigation Court, Duisburg-Ruhrort, Judgment 12 February 2025, Case no. 5 C 10/24 BSch
What happened: During an illuminated boat parade of about 250 boats on the Maas lakes at Roermond in the Netherlands, a skipper cut across the convoy and hit a 12 metre motor yacht. Her liability insurer paid only half.
What the court decided: She is fully liable and must pay the remaining 5,656.04 euros. Because both sides live in Germany, the case could be brought there and German liability law applied. Who was at fault, however, was judged by the navigation rules where the accident happened, here the rules for the Maas.
What owners can learn: After an accident abroad you may be able to sue where the other party lives. If you were not at fault, do not accept a part payment as the last word.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Collisions
Too fast into the lock: the motor yacht pays for capsized rowing boats
Moselle Navigation Court of Appeal, Cologne, Judgment 26 February 2010, Case no. 3 U 178/08 BSchMo
What happened: In October 2006 a motor yacht entered a lock on the Moselle, hit the wall and the reverse gear failed to engage. It overturned several rowing boats and only stopped when it struck a motor vessel.
What the court decided: The yacht's skipper is liable for the whole damage to the rowing boat. The gearbox failure did not excuse him, because he had entered too fast. A lock must be entered slowly enough to stop on lines made fast to bollards, even without the engine.
What owners can learn: Approach locks at walking pace with a line ready to make fast. With rowers or paddlers in the same chamber, take the greatest care.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Cruises, charter and borrowed boats
Fall while stepping from the tender: the skipper is not automatically liable
Higher Regional Court of Hamm (OLG), Judgment 25 November 2011, Case no. I-9 U 100/10
What happened: On a Caribbean sailing holiday a crew member tried to step from the tender onto the yacht's bathing platform one evening and fell, badly injuring his shoulder. He blamed the skipper for cutting the outboard too early and for poor handling of the tender's line.
What the court decided: His claim failed at both levels. No mistake by the skipper could be proven, and according to the expert he may just as well have fallen on the platform itself.
What owners can learn: Whoever claims damages has to prove the fault. Skippers should still brief the crew on the tender and only let people step across once it is held fast.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Cruises, charter and borrowed boats
Damage to a borrowed yacht: personal liability insurance does not pay
Regional Court of Düsseldorf (LG), Judgment 31 March 2000, Case no. 20 S 159/99
What happened: A man was allowed to sleep aboard his uncle's sailing yacht during Kiel Week, a large regatta, in return for keeping an eye on it. The diesel tank was damaged while he was using it. His personal liability insurer refused to pay.
What the court decided: Rightly so: damage to things you have rented or borrowed is excluded from personal liability cover. The arrangement was more than a favour, because both sides gained from it.
What owners can learn: Before using someone else's boat, agree who carries damage to the boat itself. Your own liability policy will usually not help, so check the wording of yours.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Buying a used boat
Used sailing boat bought as seen: the seller pays for hidden rot
Regional Court of Düsseldorf (LG), Judgment 11 April 2019, Case no. 1 O 383/15
What happened: A private buyer paid 12,500 euros for a used wooden sailing boat found through an advert; the seller said it had no defects and the contract said bought as seen. On the first longer sail, rot appeared where deck and hull meet at the bow, and a larger mast fitted later lacked proper reinforcement underneath.
What the court decided: The seller must pay 5,074.40 euros in repair costs. An as seen clause only excludes defects you could spot on an ordinary viewing without a surveyor. The rot was in a place nobody could see.
What owners can learn: Bring in a surveyor before buying and get statements such as no defects in writing. If a defect shows up, first give the seller a written deadline to put it right.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Buying a used boat
Contract says free of osmosis: the buyer may hand the yacht back
Higher Regional Court of Schleswig (OLG), Judgment 26 May 2011, Case no. 11 U 135/10
What happened: The contract for a used sailing yacht stated that the boat was free of osmosis, the blistering of a fibreglass hull caused by water getting into the laminate. Osmosis damage appeared later.
What the court decided: The buyer was entitled to withdraw from the purchase and the sale is unwound. The express term in the contract was decisive.
What owners can learn: Put what matters to you into the contract as an agreed condition, for example free of osmosis. A moisture reading of the underwater hull before buying shows whether it is true.
Source: Record on dejure.org (German)
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Boat insurance
Delivery skipper runs aground: the insurer cannot pin it all on the owner
Higher Regional Court of Cologne (OLG), Judgment 30 April 2002, Case no. 9 U 94/01
What happened: In 1998 an owner hired a skipper to deliver his sailing yacht from Malta towards Majorca. Off Tunisia the yacht ran aground. The hull insurer paid only part and accused the skipper of gross negligence.
What the court decided: The owner's claim was upheld in principle. The skipper was not the owner's representative for insurance purposes, because he only made this one delivery and the owner kept the decisions. A clause attributing any skipper's gross negligence to the owner was invalid.
What owners can learn: Mistakes by a skipper you hand the boat to for a single passage are usually not held against you. It may be different if someone looks after the boat on your behalf for the long term. The case was decided under the insurance law in force before 2008.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Boat insurance
Outboard only bolted on: no payout after the theft
Regional Court of Bochum (LG), Judgment 29 July 2009, Case no. 4 O 31/09
What happened: An outboard engine of about 170 kilograms was stolen from a fenced marina. It was held on by four bolts; there was no additional anti theft lock.
What the court decided: The insurer did not have to pay. The policy required the engine to be secured, and bolting it on is not securing it. Weight and bolts do not seriously deter thieves.
What owners can learn: Lock outboards with an engine lock or locking bolt, even inside a fenced marina. Check exactly which kind of lock your own policy asks for.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Boat insurance
Steering fails and the yacht hits a rock: not gross negligence
Higher Regional Court of Hamm (OLG), Judgment 20 May 2015, Case no. 20 U 234/11
What happened: In 2009 a fast motor yacht struck a rock on the French Mediterranean coast and sank after its steering stopped responding. The steering gear had failed before and had been overhauled during the winter lay up. The hull insurer refused to pay, citing gross negligence.
What the court decided: The insurer must pay 584,100 euros. The skipper was entitled to rely on the confirmed repair. A handling error in a moment of shock is not automatically gross negligence, and the insurer has to prove it.
What owners can learn: Keep invoices and written confirmations of repairs. They show later that you were entitled to assume the boat was in good order.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Boat insurance
Jumping a ship's wake at 80 km/h or more: the insurer pays nothing
Higher Regional Court of Cologne (OLG), Judgment 12 October 2010, Case no. 9 U 84/10
What happened: In 2007 an owner was running his 525 hp sports boat on the Rhine at 80 km/h or more and tried to overtake a cargo ship close to a bathing beach. Crossing the wake, the boat took off, the driver went overboard and the boat carried on unmanned onto an island. It was a total loss.
What the court decided: The hull insurer was released from paying because the owner had caused the accident through gross negligence. High speed, overtaking in a narrow channel and crossing the wake together made the fault serious. Under the law in force at the time, that meant no payment at all.
What owners can learn: Since 2008 German insurers reduce payment in line with the degree of fault in cases of gross negligence (section 81 of the Insurance Contract Act, VVG) instead of refusing automatically. Take big ships' wakes slowly and wear the kill cord.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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Water skiing and jet skis
Water skier caught by the propeller: the husband at the helm is liable too
Federal Court of Justice (BGH), Judgment 24 March 2009, Case no. VI ZR 79/08
What happened: On Lake Garda in 2001 a woman was water skiing behind a motor boat driven by her husband; the boat belonged to an acquaintance. As she swam back, he opened the throttle after a warning shout. Reverse gear was still engaged and she was caught by the propeller. The boat owner had already been ordered to pay damages and sought a share from the husband.
What the court decided: Germany's Federal Court of Justice held that the husband cannot rely on the milder standard of care between spouses (section 1359 of the Civil Code, BGB). Towing water skiers with a motor boat follows fixed rules, much like road traffic. The lower court had to decide afresh how to split the loss.
What owners can learn: Whoever drives a boat towing a skier is held to the full standard, even towards family. When someone is in the water near the stern, the engine stays off. Before driving someone else's boat, have the throttle and gear controls explained.
Source: Record on dejure.org (German)
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Water skiing and jet skis
Jet skier helps the fire brigade and capsizes: the city is not liable
Regional Court of Cologne (LG), Judgment 9 February 2021, Case no. 5 O 112/19
What happened: In Cologne in May 2018 a pleasure boat that had drifted off unmanned got caught in anchor chains on the Rhine. A jet skier ferried a firefighter over to it; as the firefighter climbed across, the jet ski capsized and its rider was trapped underwater and injured. He sued the city for damages and compensation for pain and suffering.
What the court decided: The claim was dismissed. There was no emergency that obliged him to help; he took part voluntarily and could have said no. No culpable breach of duty by the firefighter could be established.
What owners can learn: Volunteering your own craft to help is, in the first place, at your own risk. Before such a manoeuvre, agree clearly who steps across, when and how.
Source: Full text in the NRW case law database (German)
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