My firm, Fairway Advocaten (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), regularly assists on the international sale, purchase and transfer of motor yachts.
Recently we provided assistance to a Dutch client, who purchased a vessel berthed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The vessel was owned by a Delaware corporation, that was in the hands of a Polish national. After the hand-over, the vessel was to be registered in the Dutch Antilles.
Given all the international aspects, this was a typical case that we could only handle with help from our colleagues in the Eurojuris network: our Polish members provided necessary information regarding the due diligence on the seller. We received tremendous help from Tobias Ziegler (at that time with Bressler, Amery & Ross, currently with Stinson LLP) and his team, who assisted us with research on the Delaware entity and the registration of the vessel in the ship register with regard to liens, mortgages etc. and also provided us with necessary escrow services.
After some exciting last minute negotiations with the American yacht broker our client had a successful hand-over of the vessel in Fort Lauderdale. A result we could achieve because of our colleagues at Eurojuris International!
