A foreign individual cannot own a yacht in the Turkish ship register: Article 940 of the Turkish Commercial Code, Law No. 6102, reserves it to Turkish citizens and Turkish controlled companies. A foreign resident may register a private boat in the mooring register under the Turkish flag; the Turkish International Ship Registry (Law No. 4490) takes only commercial yachts. A foreign flagged private yacht may stay 5 years in a certified marina, extendable by 5, but may not carry paying guests (Law No. 815). Importing one for Turkish registration costs 8% special consumption tax plus 20% VAT.
Foreign buyers usually find the yacht in Bodrum, Göcek or Marmaris before asking in whose name it can be registered, which flag it can fly, how long it may stay and whether it may earn charter income. The cost side has also changed: since 6 September 2025, Presidential Decision No. 10363 has applied special consumption tax at 8 per cent to yachts and pleasure boats that were previously taxed at zero, which changes the cost of importing a yacht and putting it under the Turkish flag. Below are the rules in force in 2026, in the order a buyer meets them.
Under Article 940 of the Turkish Commercial Code, Law No. 6102, only a ship owned by a Turkish citizen is a Turkish ship entitled to fly the Turkish flag; a ship with several owners qualifies if the majority of the shares or of the joint owners are Turkish. Article 958 bars any other ship from the national register, so a foreign individual cannot be its registered owner.
A yacht owned by a Turkish company counts as Turkish only if most of the persons authorised to manage the company are Turkish citizens and the voting majority lies with Turkish shareholders, with extra share rules for joint stock companies (Article 940(4)(b)). If that majority later disappears, the flag right is lost, although the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure may allow the flag for up to six more months (Article 942).
A foreigner who has acquired Turkish citizenship, for example through citizenship by investment, qualifies like any other citizen. A Turkish spouse or friend can be registered as owner instead, but that person then becomes the legal owner.
The gemi sicili, the national ship register, is kept at harbour master's offices under court supervision (Article 954). The owner applies to the office of the home port (Article 955); registration is compulsory for merchant ships of 18 gross tonnage and above (Article 957), and pleasure yachts may also be entered (Article 956). The register matters for financing: a contractual pledge over a registered ship can only be a ship mortgage, agreed in writing with notarised signatures and entered in the register (Articles 1014 and 1015).
Other boats go into the bağlama kütüğü, the mooring register, under the Mooring Register Implementation Regulation (Official Gazette of 25 September 2014, No. 29130, amended on 30 December 2023), and the application must be filed within one month of acquisition (Article 6(2)). Foreign buyers often miss Article 9(2)(a): privately used craft of foreign individuals holding a Turkish residence permit may be registered on request, and under Article 12(3) they fly the Turkish flag without the nationality test of the Commercial Code. The licence, ruhsatname, is issued for one to five years. Article 12(4) keeps the Cabotage Law, Law No. 815, applicable to foreign owned craft, so this route is for private use only, and it depends on a valid residence permit.
The Türk Uluslararası Gemi Sicili (TUGS), created by Law No. 4490 of 16 December 1999, is often described as an open door for foreign yacht owners. The text is narrower.
Article 2(b) admits only commercial yachts: built as yachts, carrying no more than 36 guests, entered in a tourism company's inventory and described as a "commercial yacht" in the tonnage certificate. Article 4 lists ships and yachts already registered in 1999, ships and yachts built in Türkiye and imported ships above 3,000 DWT; imported yachts are not on the list. Article 5 admits individuals of any nationality resident in Türkiye and companies established under Turkish law, but an owner who fails the nationality rules of the Commercial Code gets no cabotage rights (Article 7), and the master must be a Turkish citizen (Article 9).
Under Article 12, income from operating and selling TUGS yachts is exempt from income and corporate tax, and their sale, mortgage, registration and charter contracts from stamp duty and fees. Instead, a registration fee (for yachts, 5,000 US dollars plus 1 dollar per net ton, paid in Turkish Lira) and an annual tonnage fee of 1 dollar per net ton apply, halved for Türk Loydu class; the President may raise them up to tenfold.
For an owner without Turkish residence a foreign flag is the normal choice, governed by Articles 28 and 29 of the Tourism Incentive Law, Law No. 2634, and the Marine Tourism Regulation (Official Gazette of 24 July 2009, No. 27298, as amended in 2022 by Presidential Decision No. 6229).
The yacht enters through a sea border gate, and its entry, customs, crew and voyage declarations are made on the seyir izin belgesi, the sailing permit that replaced the transit log; it can be issued electronically (Articles 40 and 41 of the Regulation). The yacht may then cruise Turkish waters (Article 42(2)), and the permit stays valid while it winters in a certified marina (Article 42(8)).
Article 29 of Law No. 2634 allows foreign flagged private yachts to stay up to five years for cruising, repair or wintering, extendable by five years by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Under Article 46 of the Regulation, the yacht may be left afloat or ashore in a marina holding a tourism operation certificate for that period without a separate permit; since October 2022 the extension no longer requires the owner to have used the yacht at least once in the first five years. When the owner leaves Türkiye, the marina takes the yacht under its responsibility (Article 46(2)). A yacht whose berthing contract lapses without renewal for two years is liquidated under the Customs Law, Law No. 4458 (Article 46(3)).
Under Article 47 of the Regulation, the yacht may be used by its owners and by persons the owner authorises in writing, for leisure only, and guests may come aboard only if they pay nothing. The owner need not be aboard, and the crew may move the yacht between ports without guests on the owner's instructions (Article 47(3)). In customs terms the yacht is under temporary importation, wholly or partly exempt from import taxes on condition that it leaves again unchanged (Article 128 of Law No. 4458). Turkish registration or commercial use ends that status and brings in the taxes in section 7, and a change of residence or a local sale should be checked with customs first.
| Question and option | Current rule |
|---|---|
| Owner: ship register | Turkish citizens and Turkish controlled companies (Article 940, Law No. 6102) |
| Owner: mooring register | Also foreign residents, private craft only (Article 9, Mooring Register Regulation) |
| Owner: TUGS | Residents and Turkish companies; commercial yachts only (Articles 2 and 5, Law No. 4490) |
| Owner: foreign flag | As the flag state allows; title follows that register's law (Article 22 of the Code on Private International and Procedural Law, Law No. 5718) |
| Stay limit | Turkish flag: none. Foreign flag: 5 years in a certified marina, plus up to 5 years |
| Charter in Turkish waters | Turkish flag: with a tourism certificate. Foreign flag: no, save commercial yachts over 39 metres with a permit or arriving with their own passengers |
| Import taxes | Turkish registration of an import: duty where due, 8 per cent special consumption tax, 20 per cent VAT. Foreign flag: none during temporary importation |
| Master and crew | Turkish vessels: Turkish crew (Article 3, Law No. 815). Foreign flag: flag state rules |
Search the register of the yacht's current flag, or for a mooring register boat obtain the registration record, bağlama kaydı örneği, and make sure every registered owner signs. For a foreign flagged yacht, title and mortgages follow the law of the register (Article 22 of Law No. 5718). The register does not show maritime liens, gemi alacaklısı hakkı: under Articles 1320 and 1321 of Law No. 6102, which apply to yachts too (Article 935(2)(a)), unpaid crew wages, injury claims, salvage and port dues give a lien enforceable against anyone in possession of the vessel and mostly ranking ahead of mortgages (Article 1323). It lapses after one year unless the yacht is arrested within that year and then sold by enforcement (Article 1326). Ask for an indemnity against such claims, secured by part of the price held back. A charter yacht's tourism certificate does not pass to the buyer without Ministry permission (Article 27(3) of the Regulation). This is where our maritime and yacht lawyers most often find the problems that change the price.
The parties may choose the law of the contract (Article 24 of Law No. 5718). Under Turkish law the buyer must examine the yacht after delivery and report defects within a reasonable time, hidden defects as soon as they are found (Article 223 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, Law No. 6098), and defect claims lapse two years after delivery unless the seller agreed a longer period or acted with gross fault (Article 231). The contract should also fix the deposit and refund terms, the survey conditions, the documents to be delivered and a warranty against liens.
For a ship register yacht, ownership passes on a written transfer agreement with notarised signatures, or one made at the registry office, plus delivery of possession (Article 1001 of Law No. 6102). For a mooring register boat, the transfer documents must be drawn up before the harbour master's office or a notary, or the transfer is invalid (Article 14 of the Mooring Register Regulation). Release the price only at that moment, typically through an escrow agreement. A buyer abroad can act through a lawyer under a power of attorney signed abroad at a Turkish consulate or before a foreign notary with an apostille.
The Cabotage Law of 1926 reserves the carriage of passengers and goods between Turkish ports to Turkish flagged vessels (Article 1), commercial operation of vessels in Turkish waters, bays and ports to Turkish nationals (Article 2) and crew posts on Turkish vessels to Turkish nationals (Article 3). Since 1 January 2024, Article 5 fines the master, and the owner of a foreign owned vessel, 40,000 to 2,000,000 Turkish Lira for breaching Article 1, holding a foreign owned vessel in port until payment; foreigners using the rights in Articles 2 and 3 face 20,000 to 200,000 Turkish Lira. These amounts rise each year by the revaluation rate (Article 17(7) of the Law on Misdemeanours, Law No. 5326).
Article 29 of Law No. 2634 allows Turkish flagged yachts to be chartered by their owners, or by operators leasing them from the owners, once a certificate is obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; the file includes the seaworthiness certificate and an insurance policy (Article 29 of the Regulation). Foreign flagged commercial yachts longer than 39 metres may receive a temporary permit within one calendar year against a contribution fee (Article 42/A), and those arriving from abroad with their own passengers may cruise under Ministry rules (Article 47(4)); otherwise, taking guests aboard in Türkiye for a charter between Turkish ports breaches Article 1 of Law No. 815. Vessels licensed for more than 12 passengers need compulsory passenger insurance of at least 250,000 Special Drawing Rights per passenger for international voyages and 100,000 otherwise (Article 1259 of Law No. 6102). Charter terms are covered in our yacht charter contract guide.
A Turkish company solves the flag question only if Turkish citizens form the majority of its managers and hold the voting majority (Article 940(4)(b)), and the foreign investor then relies on the articles of association and a shareholders' agreement. A company with foreign shareholders and directors cannot use the national ship register, but it may register a qualifying commercial yacht in TUGS, without cabotage rights. Under Article 941(2), a foreign ship leased for at least one year to a person entitled to the Turkish flag may also fly it with the Ministry's permission, if the owner consents and the foreign law allows. Private use of a company yacht by shareholders is a tax question to settle before the purchase. See our guide to company registration in Türkiye and, if you plan to trade in yachts, our notes on establishing a yacht buying and selling company.
Not in the national ship register, which Article 940 of Law No. 6102 reserves to Turkish citizens and Turkish controlled entities; a foreign resident can register a private boat in the mooring register.
No. TUGS takes only commercial yachts in a tourism company's inventory, and imported yachts are not on the list in Article 4 of Law No. 4490.
Up to five years in a certified marina, extendable by five more years by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Article 29 of Law No. 2634).
No. Persons the owner authorises in writing may use it, and the crew may reposition it without guests.
Its successor, the sailing permit, is required for every foreign flagged yacht from entry.
No. Paid use breaches the Cabotage Law, except for commercial yachts over 39 metres with a temporary permit and commercial yachts arriving with their own passengers.
Customs duty where due, 8 per cent special consumption tax and 20 per cent VAT on a base that includes those taxes, plus fees.
No. It is charged once, on first acquisition; VAT applies only if the seller sells in the course of business.
By a written agreement with notarised signatures plus delivery for a ship register yacht, and by documents drawn up before the harbour master or a notary for a mooring register boat.
Yes. Maritime liens such as unpaid crew wages can be enforced against any possessor for one year, and mortgages remain until deleted.
Yes. A lawyer can sign the transfer and handle the registry under a power of attorney given at a Turkish consulate or before a foreign notary with an apostille.
On TUGS and other Turkish vessels, yes (Article 9 of Law No. 4490, Article 3 of Law No. 815); on a foreign flagged yacht, the flag state's rules apply.
A foreign individual cannot own a yacht in the Turkish ship register, a foreign resident can register a private boat in the mooring register, a Turkish company qualifies only with a Turkish management and voting majority, and TUGS is in practice limited to Turkish built commercial yachts. A foreign flagged private yacht may stay up to five years in a certified marina, plus five, but never carry paying guests. Importing a yacht for Turkish registration costs 8 per cent special consumption tax and 20 per cent VAT on top of any duty, and no purchase should close without a register search, a lien check and payment tied to the notarised transfer.
If you are choosing a flag, buying a yacht in Türkiye or bringing one here for charter, our legal team can review the vessel, the registers and the contract and complete the transfer for you under the current rules.
