How much compensation can I get if my ferry is delayed?

Compensation is a percentage of the price you paid for the delayed leg, and it depends on how long the crossing was scheduled to take and how late you arrived at your final destination. On a crossing scheduled to take up to 4 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 1 hour late, and 50% if you arrive at least 2 hours late. On a crossing scheduled to take 4 hours to 8 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 2 hours late, and 50% if you arrive at least 4 hours late. On a crossing scheduled to take 8 hours to 24 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 3 hours late, and 50% if you arrive at least 6 hours late. On a crossing scheduled to take more than 24 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 6 hours late, and 50% if you arrive at least 12 hours late. These are the thresholds ReFerry checks your claim against.

How late does my ferry have to be before I can claim?

At least 1 hour on the shortest crossings, and longer on longer ones — the threshold rises with the scheduled journey length. What counts is your arrival at your final destination, not the departure delay. A ferry that leaves late but makes the time up at sea gives you no claim.

When can a ferry operator refuse to pay compensation?

Article 20 of the Regulation lets an operator refuse in specific circumstances: weather conditions that endangered the safe operation of the ship; extraordinary circumstances outside the carrier's control, which could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures; you were told about the change before you bought your ticket; the delay was caused by the passenger. Whether one of these genuinely applies is a judgement, and it is the operator's to make. ReFerry flags a claim for human review rather than guessing when the reason the operator gave looks like one of them.

Does my ticket price affect what I get?

Yes. Compensation is calculated as a percentage of the fare for the delayed leg, not a fixed sum — so the same delay is worth more on an expensive ticket. If your booking covers a return or several legs, only the affected leg counts.

Does ReFerry claim on my behalf?

No. ReFerry detects disruptions from operators' own announcements, estimates what the Regulation may entitle you to, and prepares the details so you can file through the operator's existing compensation process. You submit the claim and the operator decides it. Any compensation is paid to you directly by the operator and never passes through us. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.

Passenger rights

Ferry delayed or cancelled? What EU Regulation 1177/2010 gives you

If a ferry left you standing on a quayside, or got you to your destination hours after you were meant to arrive, European law may entitle you to money back. This page explains what qualifies, how much you can claim, and the reasons an operator is allowed to say no.

What the Regulation covers

Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 sets out the rights of passengers travelling by sea and inland waterway. It applies to most passenger ferry services departing from an EU port, and to services arriving at one where the operator is based in the EU. It covers delay, cancellation, and information and assistance while you wait.

Three articles do most of the work. Article 18 is what you are owed when a sailing is cancelled, or leaves more than 90 minutes late: your choice of a full refund or re-routing. Article 19 is compensation for arriving late. Article 20 is the list of circumstances in which the operator does not have to pay Article 19.

Two different clocks. Article 19 compensation depends on when you arrived — a ferry that leaves an hour late and makes the time up at sea gives you no claim under it. But Article 18 watches the departure: if the sailing was cancelled, or left more than 90 minutes late, you were entitled to choose a refund or re-routing even if you eventually arrived roughly on time.

If your sailing was cancelled

Article 18 gives you a choice, and it is your choice rather than the operator's: re-routing to your destination at no extra cost, or a full refund of the ticket price, which must be paid within 7 days. The same right applies when a departure is delayed by more than 90 minutes.

Two things make this stronger than a delay claim. There is no journey-length condition — a cancelled 100-minute crossing owes the same full refund as a cancelled overnight one. And the Article 20 excuses below, including bad weather, do not apply to Article 18: they cover the assistance and compensation articles, not your right to your money back.

A refund is not the same as compensation. Article 18 returns the fare you already paid; Article 19 pays you a percentage on top for arriving late. If the operator has already refunded you, that right is satisfied.

How much compensation you can claim

Compensation is a percentage of the fare you paid for the delayed leg. The threshold you have to cross depends on how long the crossing was scheduled to take — a longer sailing has to be later before it qualifies.

Article 19 delay compensation, as enforced by our eligibility engine
Scheduled crossing	25% of your fare	50% of your fare
up to 4 hours	1 hour late	2 hours late
4 hours to 8 hours	2 hours late	4 hours late
8 hours to 24 hours	3 hours late	6 hours late
more than 24 hours	6 hours late	12 hours late

Read a row as: on a crossing of this scheduled length, you must arrive at least this late to claim that percentage. These figures are read from the same rules our eligibility engine applies to your claim, so this page cannot quote a number we do not actually use.

So on the shortest crossings, arriving 1 hour late is enough to claim 25% of what you paid. Compensation is calculated on the fare for the affected leg only — if you booked a return, the leg that ran on time does not count.

When an operator can refuse to pay

Article 20 lets a carrier decline Article 19 compensation in defined circumstances. These are not loopholes to be waved at any inconvenience; the operator has to show the circumstance genuinely applied. Note what this list does not touch: your Article 18 right to a refund or re-routing when a sailing is cancelled survives all of it, bad weather included.

Weather conditions that endangered the safe operation of the ship
Extraordinary circumstances outside the carrier's control, which could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures
You were told about the change before you bought your ticket
The delay was caused by the passenger

Whether one of these actually applies is a judgement, and under the Regulation it is the operator's judgement to make. Where the reason an operator publishes looks like one of these, we mark the claim for a human to look at rather than tell you it will succeed.

What ReFerry does, and what it does not

We read the disruption notices ferry operators publish, work out which sailings are affected, and estimate what the Regulation may entitle you to based on the fare you paid and how late you arrived. We then set out the details of your claim so that you can file it through the operator's own compensation process.

You file the claim, and the operator decides it. We are not a law firm, we do not give legal advice, and we do not negotiate with operators. Any compensation is paid to you directly by the operator — it never passes through us. Our estimate is a pre-qualification against the figures above, not a promise of a payout, and the operator can lawfully refuse for one of the Article 20 reasons.

You can always claim directly with the operator yourself, for free. Everything on this page is information you can act on without us.

Current disruptions

Sailings we are currently tracking. If yours is here, you can check your claim against the thresholds above in a couple of minutes.

Common questions

How much compensation can I get if my ferry is delayed?: Compensation is a percentage of the price you paid for the delayed leg, and it depends on how long the crossing was scheduled to take and how late you arrived at your final destination. On a crossing scheduled to take up to 4 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 1 hour late, and 50% if you arrive at least 2 hours late. On a crossing scheduled to take 4 hours to 8 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 2 hours late, and 50% if you arrive at least 4 hours late. On a crossing scheduled to take 8 hours to 24 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 3 hours late, and 50% if you arrive at least 6 hours late. On a crossing scheduled to take more than 24 hours: 25% if you arrive at least 6 hours late, and 50% if you arrive at least 12 hours late. These are the thresholds ReFerry checks your claim against.
How late does my ferry have to be before I can claim?: At least 1 hour on the shortest crossings, and longer on longer ones — the threshold rises with the scheduled journey length. What counts is your arrival at your final destination, not the departure delay. A ferry that leaves late but makes the time up at sea gives you no claim.
When can a ferry operator refuse to pay compensation?: Article 20 of the Regulation lets an operator refuse in specific circumstances: weather conditions that endangered the safe operation of the ship; extraordinary circumstances outside the carrier's control, which could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures; you were told about the change before you bought your ticket; the delay was caused by the passenger. Whether one of these genuinely applies is a judgement, and it is the operator's to make. ReFerry flags a claim for human review rather than guessing when the reason the operator gave looks like one of them.
Does my ticket price affect what I get?: Yes. Compensation is calculated as a percentage of the fare for the delayed leg, not a fixed sum — so the same delay is worth more on an expensive ticket. If your booking covers a return or several legs, only the affected leg counts.
Does ReFerry claim on my behalf?: No. ReFerry detects disruptions from operators' own announcements, estimates what the Regulation may entitle you to, and prepares the details so you can file through the operator's existing compensation process. You submit the claim and the operator decides it. Any compensation is paid to you directly by the operator and never passes through us. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.

This page is general information about Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010, not legal advice. The full text is published on EUR-Lex.