Trust

How we verify.

A guest is about to send several thousand euro to a stranger’s boat, for a day that has not happened yet, on an island they may never have visited. Five checks stand between that and a bad afternoon. Here is what each one actually involves, and what happens to an operator who fails it.

Last updated 2 August 2026Five checks, before a boat goes live

Transport Malta licence

Every commercial operator checked against the TM register. Number shown on the boat page.

The commercial operating licence, its number, its expiry, and the specific vessels it covers. Malta licenses the boat rather than the business, so a licence that covers one hull does not cover the sister ship berthed next to it. We check that the boat being listed is the boat on the certificate.

How it is done

The certificate is read at the berth, not emailed, and the number is checked against the Transport Malta register on the spot. Every licence is re-checked before the season opens and again whenever an operator adds a hull. The number is then printed on the boat page, so you can check it yourself.

If it fails

The boat does not go live. A licence that lapses while a boat is already listed pulls it out of search inside 24 hours, and any confirmed booking on that hull is moved to an equivalent boat from the same marina or refunded in full.

€5m insurance, included

Third-party cover on every charter, guests named on the policy.

Third-party liability cover of at least €5,000,000, with guests named as covered persons rather than crew only, and a policy period that actually spans the dates being sold. Cover below the threshold does not get a listing regardless of how good the boat is.

How it is done

We read the certificate of insurance in full, including the exclusions, and diary the renewal date. A broker saying the boat is covered is not evidence that it is. On crewed vessels we also check that the cover extends to the crew on board.

If it fails

Boats are suspended the day the policy lapses, not the week after. An operator whose cover drops below €5m at renewal comes off the platform until it is restored.

Operator met in person

ID, berth and VAT number confirmed at the marina, not by email.

The identity of the person who signs the operator agreement, the berth their boats actually occupy, the VAT registration, and that the vessels exist and look like their photographs. This is the check the aggregators skip, and it is the one that catches most problems.

How it is done

Somebody from SailSeeker stands on the pontoon. We photograph the berth, meet the skipper who will be driving, and look at the hull, the tender, the safety kit and the swim platform. A boat listed here has been seen in the water by us.

If it fails

No visit, no listing. If the berth is not where we were told it is, if the boat in the photographs is not the boat in the water, or if the person signing is not the person on the licence, the application is declined and not reopened.

Reviews from real bookings

Only guests who completed a charter can write one. Name and date always shown.

That every published review belongs to a charter that happened. One review per completed booking, tied to that booking, with the guest name and the date always shown next to it.

How it is done

The review link is generated after departure and only works for the person who paid. There is no route to post a review without a completed booking behind it, which is a duller mechanism than moderation and a considerably more effective one.

If it fails

We do not remove a negative review because an operator asks. An operator caught soliciting or incentivising reviews has every review on their profile removed and a warning recorded. A second occasion is a delisting.

Money held until you sail

Paid to the operator the morning of departure. Full refund to 72 hrs.

Not a check on the operator so much as a control on us. Your card is authorised when the booking is accepted, and the money sits with SailSeeker until the morning of departure rather than moving straight to the operator.

How it is done

Funds are released on the day the charter sails. If it does not sail, the refund comes from money we are still holding, which is the difference between a refund taking a few days and a refund taking a season of emails.

If it fails

Where a charter is disputed before departure, the payment stays where it is until the dispute is closed. That is the leverage the model gives you, and it is the reason the platform can stand behind the 72 hour cancellation window on every boat.

After a boat goes live

Verification is not a one-off. Licences expire, policies renew at lower cover, and boats get sold. Three things run continuously.

Expiry diary. Every licence and every policy has a date against it. A boat comes off search on the morning the document lapses rather than when somebody notices.
Cancellation pattern. An operator who cancels repeatedly at short notice is doing something the platform cannot absorb, whatever the reason given. It is reviewed after the third occurrence in a season.
What guests write. Reviews are read, not just published. A recurring complaint about the same thing on the same hull is a maintenance question, and it gets asked.

What we do not check

Worth saying plainly, because a verification page that claims everything is worth nothing.

We are not marine surveyors. We do not survey hulls, engines or rigging. That is Transport Malta’s survey regime, which the commercial licence depends on, and we check the licence rather than duplicating the survey.
We do not sit on the boat. A skipper’s judgement on the day is theirs, and it has to be, because they are the one who can see the sea.
We do not verify what an operator says about a route in conversation. What is on the listing is what is on the listing.

If something is wrong

Message the operator through the booking first. They are the fastest route and they are the ones on the water. If it is not resolved, come to us. Where the charter has not departed we are still holding the money, and nothing moves until the matter is closed.

Proof of concept

This build is a demonstration. The operators, licence numbers and insurance figures shown across the site are placeholders, realistic for the Malta market but not live records. The process described here is the one the product runs on.

Licence numbers are public

Every boat page prints the one it sails under.

You do not have to take our word for any of this. The Transport Malta commercial licence is on the operator block of each listing, next to the insurance figure and the berth. Check it before you pay, not after.

Browse the fleet Trust questions