Chartering a boat in Sweden: licence, rules and safety

Licence and charter rules

Licence: No licence is required for recreational boats under 12 m long and under 4 m wide, except personal watercraft (förarbevis). The master of a recreational vessel over 12 m long and over 4 m wide needs skepparexamen, kustskepparexamen or higher.

Arriving by boat

Pleasure boats arriving from or leaving for a place outside the EU must go to a Swedish border crossing point and hand in the form 'Fritidsbåtstrafik, In- och utresa', whatever the nationality of boat or crew; everyone needs valid travel documents.

Season and weather

Forecast: SMHI publishes Sjörapporten, the sea-weather outlook for the next 24 hours (low-bandwidth version at smhi.se/sjorapporten); weather is also broadcast over Sjöfartsverket's coast radio base stations.

Rules on the water

Life jackets: Transportstyrelsen's guidance: a life jacket for everyone on board, worn except when there is no risk of falling in; a kill-cord should be attached. In its 2025 boating survey 72% of respondents said wearing one should be required by law.

Gothenburg and Bohuslän: In the Port of Gothenburg, leisure boats must keep at least 25 m from port facilities and ships moored there (except where the fairway runs closer), and may not sail under sail alone east of the Älvsborg Bridge without the harbour authority's permission. Boats crossing the river must give way to vessels travelling along it.

Gothenburg and Bohuslän: Kosterhavet National Park (northern Bohuslän): no mooring, beaching or anchoring within 50 m of sandy beaches from 15 May to 31 August, and no mooring or anchoring in the same spot for more than two days. Marked bird and seal sanctuaries are closed to all traffic from 1 March to 31 August.

Gothenburg and Bohuslän: Sweden's drink limit afloat is 0.2 per mille blood alcohol, for boats that can do at least 15 knots under power or are at least 10 m long.

Stockholm archipelago: Locks in central Stockholm (between the archipelago and Lake Mälaren) must be booked: request at least 5 hours ahead and confirm 1 hour before passage. Payment by card only.

Stockholm archipelago: Local speed limits are set by the County Administrative Board and marked with buoys/signs. Example: in the sound between Djurönäset and Stora Sandholmen (Värmdö, on the route to Sandhamn) the limit is 7 knots.

Hazards and warnings

Parts of the Baltic still hold old mines, ammunition and chemical weapons from both world wars, with higher risk when anchoring or trawling in marked areas. If you find a suspect object, call 112 and ask for the JRCC, or 'Sweden Rescue' on VHF 16; do not bring it to port.

Gothenburg and Bohuslän: The Gothenburg fairway is being deepened by dredging (Skandiaporten project, estimated August 2026–February 2028). Leisure boats are only marginally affected; dredging stops during the summer boating season.

On the radio

JRCC Sweden ('Sweden Rescue') monitors VHF 16 along the whole Swedish coast and on lakes Vänern, Vättern and Mälaren; DSC calls to MMSI 002653000. Alternatively call 112 and ask for the JRCC.

Sjöfartsverket's coast radio network (56 VHF and 5 MF base stations) carries DSC, NAVTEX and broadcasts of weather and navigational warnings; the JRCC keeps a 24-hour watch on channel 16.

Charter bases in Sweden