Berths for rent

Rental terms for berths

The terms and conditions for renting a berth at a City of Helsinki marina

1 Lessor

Culture and Leisure Division's Sports Services.

2 Lessee

A legally competent person, company or organisation from Helsinki or elsewhere to whom the Sports Services unit has rented a berth at the City of Helsinki's marina. The holder of the boat must be a legally competent person.

When registering in the booking system, the lessee must authenticate with strong identification and provide their personal, address and place of residence information, as well as information about the boat requested by the City of Helsinki's Sports Services. The lessee is responsible for ensuring that this information remains accurate and up to date during the rental period. Before making a reservation, the lessee must accept the agreement terms and conditions, the privacy policy and the marina rules.

Additionally, if the boat is co-owned, the owners must provide a copy of the registration certificate or a bill of sale that names all the boat's owners. The lessee of a berth is always the person responsible.

Providing false or erroneous information on the lessee or their boat, or otherwise breaching the agreement, will result in the loss of the right to rent a berth.

3 Rented berth

The object of the rental agreement is a berth designated by the City of Helsinki's Sports Services.

The City of Helsinki's Sports Services have the unilateral right, if necessary, to assign the lessee a different berth designated by the City of Helsinki, either temporarily or permanently. The lessee has no right to oppose the change of berth or make any related claims.

If the new berth belongs to a different price category or its services differ from the original, the rent will be adjusted accordingly for the lessee's next sailing season based on the City's current price list. If the services are of a lower standard than the original, the difference will be credited to the lessee during the same sailing season. If the lessee does not wish to accept the space, the rental agreement can be terminated and the money refunded to the lessee.

4 The boat kept at the berth

In this agreement, a boat refers to all types of vessels powered by muscle, wind or engine, whose primary users are their owners or holders and that are mainly used for sports and recreational purposes.

All boats moored at the berths of the City of Helsinki's marinas must be seaworthy and in good condition in terms of the hull, equipment and gear. Boats must also comply with the regulations and guidelines issued by the authorities concerning boats and the obligations set by legislation, and be maintained accordingly.

The lessee must be able to prove the seaworthiness of their boat, as well as the good condition and regulatory compliance of the hull, equipment and gear, on the lessor's request.

For large vessels (over 20 tonnes), the lessee must always provide a valid insurance certificate, hull inspection certificate and any other documents requested as needed via email to the boat space booking service. The documents must be valid for the entire duration of the berth rental. The hull inspection certificate may be no older than five years from the date of issue. Berths for large vessels are only granted by the boat space booking service after the documents have been submitted.

Berths in the City of Helsinki's marinas are not rented to jet skis, houseboats, residential vessels, floating saunas or floating homes.

5 Rental period

The rental agreement is valid until further notice.

The sailing season runs from 10 June to 14 September each calendar year.

The lessee is considered to be a Helsinki resident if their address is in Helsinki. The customer's address details are checked against the Population Information System in connection with strong authentication. Customer accounts are processed according to the information received from the Population Information System, for example when determining reservation rights. The customer is responsible for updating their address details. A jointly owned boat's customer status is treated as belonging to Helsinki if at least half of its ownership is held by a person, company or organisation based in Helsinki.

Before the sailing season begins, no earlier than 1 March, the lessee may, at their own risk, bring the boat to their rented berth, provided that the weather and natural conditions allow it, while also taking into account any maintenance work at the marina and possible usage restrictions caused by it.

Outside the sailing season, the lessee agrees to move their boat immediately from the marina, dock or berth on request of the Sports Services to allow for repair work.

Unless otherwise agreed with the City of Helsinki's Sports Services, the lessee must move their boat away from the marina berth after the sailing season ends, before the marina freezes over, but no later than 31 December.

Only a strong boat with a sturdy hull may overwinter in the water at a City of Helsinki marina berth, and overwintering at a berth must always be agreed on separately with the lessor. A fee is charged for a boat overwintering at the berth in accordance with the Culture and Leisure Committee's latest decision. Overwintering is only possible at the owner's own berth in a marina designated for the purpose by the lessor. Unauthorised overwintering at the City's berth will result in the customer losing their berth.

The lessor is not responsible for any damage or harm caused outside of the sailing season to a boat left at or brought to the berth, resulting from maintenance, repairs or breakage of the marina or pier structures or mooring equipment.

The rental agreement ends if the customer either fails to pay the berth fee or explicitly cancels their berth.

6 Determining the rent

The price of a berth is determined based on the berth's width, level of equipment and the customer's customer group, according to the Culture and Leisure Committee's latest decision.

7 Paying the rent

The rent for the berth is paid online at the time of reserving a new space, at which point the rental agreement is considered to have been made. Customers with ongoing rental agreements must confirm and pay for their space annually by the due date. The due date refers to the last day of the booking period during which it is still possible to confirm the previous season's space for the upcoming season. The due date is absolute. If the lessee fails to make the payment by the due date, the space is considered to have been terminated by the lessee.

Berths can be reserved within the booking periods specified by the Sports Services. The booking period refers to the time window in the reservation system during which only the customer groups defined by the Sports Services may reserve berths. The booking period dates and the customer groups' booking rights for various periods are determined annually by the Sports Services. The customers are responsible for following and checking the current booking periods, due dates and terms related to reservations on the City of Helsinki's website or in the electronic system.

If a customer cancels their berth by 30 April, the berth fee for that year will be refunded to the customer. For berths cancelled after this date, no refunds are made.

8 Transferring the rental agreement

In the event of the lessee's death, their beneficiary has the right to have the rental agreement transferred to their name.

If the boat has multiple owners, the right to rent the berth can be transferred from one owner to another by presenting an electronic registration certificate.

If the lessee gives up or sells their boat during the rental period, they remain responsible for all obligations under this agreement, regardless of any termination of the rental agreement, until the boat has been removed from the rental area and all responsibilities under this agreement have been fulfilled.

The rental right does not automatically transfer to a new owner. However, before transferring the boat, the lessee may submit a written request to the City of Helsinki's Sports Services to transfer the rental agreement to the new owner. The transfer of the agreement requires the explicit written consent of the City. Without such consent, the rental agreement cannot be transferred to the new owner and the new owner is not entitled to keep the boat in the area.

If the lessee does not make the abovementioned request or if the City does not approve the transfer of the agreement, the rental agreement is considered terminated by the lessee and the boat must be immediately removed from the rental area.

In cases other than those mentioned above, the right to rent a berth cannot be transferred. The lessee is not allowed, even temporarily, to sublet or transfer the berth for use by another party.     

9 Notices and announcements

The lessee must promptly report or update any changes to their name, contact and address information, as well as the boat details, in the Population Information System or the Sports Services' boat space booking system.  The lessee is always responsible for ensuring that this information remains accurate and up to date.

The lessor has the right to send the lessee notifications, announcements and requests related to the tenancy electronically or in writing to the address last provided by the lessee to the Sports Services or the customer profile in the boat space booking system.

10 Instructions and regulations

The lessee is obligated to comply with the Public Order Act, environmental protection legislation and other laws in force in Finland, as well as current official guidelines and regulations, the City of Helsinki's Sports Services' valid marina rules and other written instructions and orders issued by the lessor.

11 Liability for damage

The lessee must ensure that no waste, hazardous waste or any other substance that may degrade the quality of the shoreline or seabed soil, water or air is discharged or released into the water or air. If a substance or material that is detrimental or harmful to the quality of water is released into the water, or if such a substance or material is detected in the water or the water area, the lessee is obligated to immediately notify the rescue and environmental authorities and promptly initiate any necessary cleanup measures.

The lessee must ensure that the boat at the rented berth is secured carefully and in accordance with good seamanship practices. The lessee must also ensure that no danger, injury, harm or other damage is caused to the docks, structures, devices or equipment of the marina or their users.

The lessor is not responsible for any property damage or personal injuries caused by a storm, flooding, abnormal weather conditions or other exceptional natural conditions. The lessor is also not liable for other unforeseeable circumstances beyond its control which prevent the use of the berth or cause property damage or personal injury.

The lessee must immediately notify the City of Helsinki's Sports Services of any damage or faults detected in the docks, their structures, equipment, moorings or devices, or other similar structures.

12 Compensation for damage

The lessee is obligated to compensate the lessor or a third party for any damage they have caused.

13 Boats moored or abandoned in an unauthorised space

Boats and other belongings left in an unauthorised location, on City land or water, are subject to a removal notice stating the date and time by which the lessee must remove the boat or item from the area. If the lessee does not remove their boat and/or other belongings from the area by the date specified in the removal notice, the objects may be stored by the City of Helsinki at the expense and risk of the lessee and the boat owner. The boat's condition is inspected before transfer. A report is compiled of this inspection.

The lessee or the owner can reclaim their boat or belongings by paying the current transfer and storage fees determined by the Culture and Leisure Committee, as well as any other costs incurred by the City for the transfer and storage of the boat or belongings.

If the boat or belongings are not reclaimed within three months of being seized, they will be sold at a public auction. Auctions are announced separately. The lessee or the owner are notified immediately of the seizure and well in advance of the sale using the contact details that they have provided or that are otherwise available. The notifications are primarily made via email. If the customer's email address is unknown, the notification is sent by post.

14 Moving a boat moored at the wrong berth in a marina

If a boat is moored in a marina somewhere other than the berth assigned by the rental agreement and designated by the Sports Services, the City of Helsinki's Sports Services have the right to move the boat immediately and charge the lessee for the costs incurred from the transfer.

15 Terminating the rental agreement

A lessee can terminate their rental agreement through the booking system.

The City of Helsinki's Sports Services will consider the rental agreement terminated by the lessee if the lessee has not paid the berth fee by the due date or has other overdue boating fees unpaid to the City of Helsinki.

If the lessee breaches or neglects the duties or obligations stated in these terms and conditions, the City of Helsinki's Sports Services may terminate the rental agreement.

When the lessee terminates the berth rental agreement or the agreement otherwise ends, the lessee must immediately remove their boat and other belongings from the berth when the agreement expires, and the berth must be handed over free for use by the City of Helsinki's Sports Services.

If the berth rented by a customer is permanently removed from use and a suitable replacement berth of an equivalent size cannot be found for the customer, the lessor has the right to terminate the open-ended rental agreement with immediate effect.

16 Other considerations

Disputes arising from this agreement will primarily be resolved through mutual negotiations between the agreement parties. The parties must strive to negotiate in good faith and in a spirit of cooperation for at least two (2) months to resolve the dispute before the matter can be brought before a court. If the parties do not reach an agreement as a result of the negotiations, the dispute will be finally resolved in a general court, with the Helsinki District Court as the court of first instance. The agreement is governed by Finnish law.

If translations of these terms cause a conflict in their interpretation, the matter will be resolved based on the Finnish-language terms and conditions.