Alcohol on a yacht – important rules

We have already covered the topic of alcohol on a yacht (click here). And although the holiday season is over for most, the sailing season continues unabated. Therefore, it is worth recalling the most important things.

Alcohol on a yacht – important rules

One thing to note at the outset: it is illegal to steer a yacht after drinking alcohol or under the influence of other drugs.

The legal consequences depend on the level of alcohol in your system:

• State of drunkenness – when you have between 0.2‰ and 0.5‰ of alcohol in your blood (or between 0.1 mg and 0.25 mg of alcohol in 1 dm3 of exhaled air).
• State of intoxication – when you have more than 0.5‰ of alcohol in your blood (more than 0.25 mg in exhaled air).

If you steer a motor vehicle on the water (e.g. a yacht with an engine) while under the influence of alcohol, you can get a custodial sentence or a fine of between 2500 PLN and 3000 PLN. If you steer while intoxicated, you are liable as for criminal offence, just like a car driver. The court will then certainly impose a driving ban of at least three years.

If you are steering a vessel that is not a motor vehicle (for example, a canoe or rowing boat), the penalties are a little more lenient. You can get a custodial sentence or a fine between 1000 PLN and 5000 PLN for steering while intoxicated. If you are in a state of intoxication, the penalty is between 2500 PLN and 3000 PLN. The court may also decide to ban you from steering for between 6 months and 3 years, but this is not mandatory.

Se depending on your state of intoxication and the vessel toy are steering, the legal consequences will be different, as illustrated in the graphic below:

Forfeiture of a yacht

Previously, vehicle forfeiture only applied to land traffic (i.e. cars, for example). However, it has now been proposed that it should also cover other vehicles, including yachts and motorboats. The draft amendments are already at the Ministry of Justice. Experts view the changes positively, as they believe that a drunken helmsman on the water should not be treated more leniently than a drunk driver on the road.

However, impoundment is not to be mandatory – it will be up to the court to decide whether the vessel should be taken away. There are also no set alcohol levels above which confiscation would be automatic.

We will keep an eye on how these regulations evolve and keep you updated!

Compiled by:

trainee advocate Michał Wieczorek