A new legal regulation is now in force in Croatia that you should be aware of on your next trip: the “Regulation on the Safety of Maritime Navigation in the Inland Sea Waters and in the Territory of the Republic of Croatia and on the Manner and Conditions of Surveillance and Traffic Regulation at Sea” (SSVO). SeaHelp has already presented the most important regulations here. Until now, it was unclear what exactly the new regulation stipulates for anchoring and mooring boats along the coast with regard to “accessories” and the “50-meter distance” (Art. 53 (7)). A statement by Toni Maričević, Head of Navigation Safety at the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, now provides some clarity.
Simply cruising along the coast in your boat can now be expensive if you, as a boat operator, do not comply with certain new conditions of the new SSVO, SeaHelp reported in its news item dated 09.04.2025.
Article 53 of the new SSVO now also regulates anchoring and mooring along the coast. The regulation defines “mooring along the coast” as “a type of mooring of a watercraft in which the watercraft is moored to the coast and secured with one or two anchors.”
Specifically, Article 53 states that “when selecting a place to anchor or moor on the coast, the person in charge of the watercraft must pay attention to places where anchoring or mooring is prohibited, as well as to other watercraft already anchored or moored.”
What exactly is meant by “accessories”?
This question has remained unanswered and has caused uncertainty among many recreational skippers.
So far, so good. However, paragraph 7 of the legal provision states: “Vessels are prohibited from mooring on the coast in such a way that any part or accessory of the vessel is 50 meters or more from the coast.”
What exactly does this mean? Does this mean, for example, that larger yachts are automatically excluded from being allowed to anchor in a quiet bay (since they would then always be more than 50 meters from the coast)?
In order to finally clarify this controversial issue, the news portal more.hr, together with the skippers’ association CROSCA, submitted this question to the Croatian Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. The specific question was: “What does the term ‘accessories/belongings’ mean in relation to the anchor chain or the 50-meter distance from the coast?”
Essentially, it is about the “end point” of the boat or yacht and the length of the anchor chain, or where exactly it “enters” the sea.
The question was answered by Toni Maričević, Head of Navigation Safety at the Croatian Ministry of the Sea: “In response to your inquiry, the length of the anchor chain within the meaning of the provision in Article 53(7) of the Regulation is to be understood as the length of the anchor chain from the end point of the boat to the point on the sea surface where the chain enters the sea.”
In practice, this means that, for example, a yacht with a length of approximately 35 meters may be moored at the shore if the part of the boat from which the anchor chain extends (“end point of the boat”) or the point at which the anchor chain “enters” the sea is no more than 50 meters from the shore.
This logically means that the distance from the shore to the point where the anchor chain enters the water must not exceed 50 meters. However, it is still not permitted to stretch land lines across a bay. This is good news for skippers who were unable to find space in the bay because, according to the new SSVO and is now prohibited by law for the first time.
This prohibition actually already results from paragraph 6 of the aforementioned article (prohibition of obstructing the passage of other watercraft and private boats), but is specified again in paragraph 7 with regard to the length of anchor chains/mooring lines.
Original source: more.hr
