How to Temporarily Switch a Recreational Vessel from Private to Commercial Use: Key Conditions

This Tuesday, July 22, 2025, the Official State Gazette (BOE) published the Resolution of July 17, 2025, issued by the Directorate-General for the Merchant Marine, which provisionally sets out the conditions that vessels and recreational boats must meet in order to obtain authorization for a temporary change of use from private to commercial.

On Tuesday, July 22, 2025, the Resolution of July 17, 2025 from the Directorate General of the Merchant Marine was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). This resolution provisionally establishes the conditions that recreational vessels must meet to obtain authorization for a temporary change of use from private to commercial.

This regulation is transitional, pending the final approval of the Royal Decree—currently under review—which will set the definitive legal framework. According to the published resolution, this approval will come after August 15. The full text is available via this [LINK].

The resolution sets out several preconditions aimed at ensuring maritime safety and the professionalization of services, including the following:

The vessel must be managed by a professional company during its commercial use, through a *ship management contract.

The vessel must undergo the same inspections as those required for recreational boats registered under List Six (lista sexta).

The boat must have liability and accident insurance, in compliance with state or regional regulations governing boat rental activities.

Neither the owner nor any related person may serve on board during the temporary commercial use period.

During this period, the boat must display the letters "CT" (for “Cambio Temporal”) in front of the registration number, on both bows, in the same size and color as the registration.

The resolution takes effect tomorrow, July 23, 2025, and from that date, applications may be submitted through the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, via the procedure:
“Ship Registry – Authorization and Entry of Temporary Change from Private to Commercial Use” (available from July 23).

Although applications for the change of use may be submitted from tomorrow, it will not yet be possible to obtain the dispatch authorization required to operate the vessel commercially. This will only be available after August 15, 2025, when the Maritime Navigation Management Regulations, approved under Royal Decree 186/2023, come into force.