There are three options regarding the VAT of the vessel:
I) If the vessel will be acquired by an EU individual or legal entity, not having commercial activity, the applicable VAT will be calculated on the purchase price of the vessel and has to be paid by the Buyer.
II) If the vessel will be acquired by an EU individual or legal entity, having commercial activity and having been registered for VAT purposes in its state, the transaction will be considered as an intra-community transaction and the possible obligation for the payment of the VAT will be transferred to the Buyer. He will have to deal with the payment or not of the VAT in his country.
III) If the buyer of the vessel will be a non EU individual or legal entity (US, Russian, Japanese etc) no VAT will be calculated and paid as the transaction will be considered as an exportation out of EU. In that case only a small tax declaration for exporting the boat out of EU has to be paid by the buyer.