Frequently asked questions
This section will be completed as we begin to receive questions, so don't hesitate to ask!
SSL Certificated - The MYBA E-Contracts site has an SSL security certificate in order to protect your confidential information. This involves encryption of transit data, encryption of the saved PDFs, the passwords and the fields containing confidential information within the document such as names of owners, etc. If the website was attacked, all of this information would be illegible.
Heartbleed bug - The MYBA E-Contract site was not affected by this recent security scare as this only affected sites using open SSL software that automatically generates the SSL encryption, the E-Contract site does not use this particular software.
How is my confidential data protected?
All drafts and the information contained therein are automatically deleted from the server 30 days after creation and definitive PDFs are deleted after 24 hours. You can also delete the definitive pdf manually as soon as you have saved it to your own hard drive.
Please note that as long as your contract remains in draft mode the information is stocked on the server, although accessible only to the user who created the contract and the facility IT developers if formally requested. Furthermore, the developer has signed a confidentiality agreement with MYBA.
The server does not store data after these delays other than the Agreement serial number and the date it was generated for cross referencing in the Serial Number Validator.
Predictive text - Auto fill suggestions in the E-Contract template can help you when using repeat information. Please note however that this function depends on the internet browser set up on your computer, the information comes only from your computer, not the E-Contract server, and can be erased by clearing the cache memory.
Authentication
Serial number validator - Thanks to the serial number and the date on a contract, you can and should verify whether or not a contract you have been presented with is a valid MYBA E-Contract. If doubt remains, contact MYBA and the IT Developer will verify one last element.
Standardisation - Everyone's MYBA E-Contract will look the same - if it doesn't, it is not a genuine contract. Pages 1 and 2 are modifiable; pages 3 – 8 with the clauses are non-modifiable as they are an image, not text. Nevertheless, it is the broker’s responsibility to read through the whole document.
What has changed in the 2014 version of the MYBA E-Contract?
Extra fields - As a result of the extra fields and clauses added to Page 1, you now have a maximum of 2 lines to enter the Owner’s and the Charterer’s addresses.
2009 version no longer endorsed - The 2009 MYBA Charter Agreement is no longer MYBA endorsed or available online.
Marked-up Specimen contract – you can obtain a marked-up copy of 2014 MYBA Charter Agreement either from YACHTFOLIO (for YF Subscribers), MYBA Messenger (for MYBA Members) or on request from info@myba.net for non-subscribers.
Number of characters in each field - Because of technical issues that were previously causing new pages to be created, many fields now have a limit on the number of characters allowed whereas there may not have been one before. For example, if you do not use all the fields on page 1, it may look like there is more space available that could be written on, however, you will not be able to do so. This is because you cannot vary the restrictions on the length of the fields, there has to be a maximum size to enable all the information to stay on one page, no matter how many fields you use.
Owner/operator 3rd Party Stakeholder Addendum
For cases where the Central Agent cannot be the stakeholder and an independent 3rd party stakeholder has been appointed, the agreement between the Central Agent and this 3rd party stakeholder should be the object of an addendum and referred to in the stakeholder field on page 1.
The addendum should clearly spell out the roles of each party and be signed by the Central Agent, the stakeholder and the charterer.
Can we have a pdf/word file to make a template on our company’s computer?
The only way to know if a contract is a MYBA endorsed contract and a genuine E-Contract is to check the serial number in the serial number validator. Any other format would not be recognised as a valid E-Contract and therefore would not be considered a MYBA endorsed contract.
Template vs PDF
There is an important difference between your contract in template form and the drafts you generate, which are pdf files that can be saved to your hard drive. Once you have generated a pdf, modifying your template will not modify your existing pdf, you have to generate a new one to see the changes on it. Just like when you work on your desk top with a Word file, if you save it as a pdf and then modify your Word file, your pdf won’t automatically change, you have to resave it as a pdf again.
Save vs Generate Draft
Once you have saved your new E-Contract for the first time (in template form only), you will need to re-open the template in order to generate your first draft (pdf).
When you wish to modify an existing contract, you open the saved template, make your changes, then you have 2 choices - you will find a ‘save’ button and a ‘generate draft’ button at the bottom of the template page and there is an important difference between them.
- If you use the save button, your changes will be saved in the template only and you are sent back to your list of contracts. If you then press ‘print draft’ to open your existing draft (a PDF file) at this point, it is normal that you don’t see the changes as you generated this draft PDF before modifying your contract. The changes are not ‘lost’, they are only saved in the template.
- To see your changes in draft form (the pdf file) you need to generate a new draft pdf file using the ‘generate draft’ button. This saves your template and generates a new draft at the same time. You will then see your changes in the draft pdf when you hit ‘print draft’.
You don’t have to use both buttons, from this stage onwards, you can just use ‘generate draft’ and your changes will be saved in both the template and as a pdf (draft).
This choice allows you to either save changes to your template as negotiations progress without generating a new draft pdf at each small change OR to have a new draft pdf with each and every little modification, it is your choice.
