What is the alcohol limit on board?

Short answer

The legal limit for the person in charge is 0.5 per mille. In insurance terms alcohol is the hardest point in any wording.

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Anyone in charge of a pleasure craft on German waters is subject to its own alcohol limits. On inland waterways the limit for the person in charge, and for anyone contributing to the safety of the passage, is 0.5 per mille; beyond that the general rule applies that nobody may navigate who is not in a fit state to do so. The same principle governs sea waterways. Above 1.1 per mille you are in the range of absolute unfitness, with criminal consequences and the risk of losing your licence, including your car licence.

In insurance terms alcohol is the point where wordings are least forgiving. Most other breaches of care are graded: a waiver of the defence of gross negligence absorbs a great deal, or it stays at a higher excess. For alcohol and drugs that waiver is almost everywhere expressly carved out. It does not apply, and the indemnity can be reduced to nil.

Two practical consequences. First, the question is not whether you feel fit to navigate but what an expert reconstructs afterwards. Second, it does not only hit hull cover. Alcohol is a separate ground of exclusion in liability and personal accident cover too, and there it concerns injury to people. If there is drinking on board, decide beforehand who stays sober, and let that person berth the boat.

Does the limit apply to guests?

No limit applies to passengers. It does apply to everyone contributing to the safety of the passage, including the helm, the lookout and anyone on watch.

Can I lose my driving licence?

It is possible. Intoxication afloat can raise doubts about your fitness to drive, and the licensing authority becomes involved.

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