Terms of Service

Effective date: 1 September 2026 Last updated: 1 September 2026 Version: 1.0

Language notice: This is an English translation provided for your convenience. The Turkish version is the binding text; in the event of any discrepancy, the Turkish version prevails (see §17 "Language"). See Kullanım Koşulları.

1. Parties and acceptance

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") constitute the agreement between Melih Can Akbulut ("Pelastra", "we") and the person using the services provided via pelastra.com and api.pelastra.com (the "User", "you").

By creating an account or using the platform, you accept these Terms and the Privacy Policy. If you do not accept them, do not use the platform.

2. Definitions

3. Scope of the service — and what is outside it

Pelastra is a software service that enables seafarers to keep their professional profiles and documents under their own control, to track document validity periods, to share their profiles to the extent they choose, to follow content about the maritime sector and to communicate with each other.

Pelastra is NONE of the following:

• Not a private employment agency or job intermediary. It places no one in a job, gives no undertaking to find work, does not act as an intermediary between employer and seafarer, and charges no fee for such activities. Any negotiation, contract and employment relationship between a seafarer and an employer is established directly between the parties; Pelastra is not a party to that relationship.
• Not a crewing/manning agency.
• Does not provide legal, medical, maritime-regulatory or career advisory services. Content on the platform is for information purposes.
• Not a document verification body. It does not confirm the authenticity of uploaded documents.
• Offers no job security or income guarantee.

⚠️ Pelastra is not a private employment agency and does not provide job placement or intermediary services. The platform is solely a software service allowing seafarers to keep their own professional records and to view listings. No fee is charged to seafarers under any name; paid plans relate only to company users and to profile/analysis tools for seafarers.

4. Account

Eligibility: To use the platform you must be at least 18 years old and have legal capacity.

Accurate information: You are responsible for the accuracy and currency of the information you provide. In the maritime industry a misdeclared rank, certificate or health record creates a risk to life safety; for that reason misdeclaration is grounds for immediate closure of the account.

Account security: You are responsible for keeping your credentials confidential. If you notice unauthorised use of your account, report it immediately to [email protected].

One person, one account. You may not transfer your account to anyone else or let anyone else use it.

Company accounts: A person who opens an account on behalf of a company, or accepts an invitation, declares that they are authorised to act on that company's behalf. The company is responsible for the actions of the users on its company account.

5. Your content

Ownership remains yours. You own the documents you upload, the posts you write and your profile information.

The permission you grant us: So that we can provide the service, you permit us to store, process and back up your content and to display it at your direction. This permission:

• is limited solely to the purpose of providing the service,
• is non-exclusive and non-transferable,
• ends when you delete your content or your account,
• does not grant a right to use your content for advertising, marketing or AI model training.

Community posts: Posts you share in community channels are visible to other users according to that channel's visibility settings. You accept that content shared in a public channel may travel beyond the platform.

Third-party data: Obtaining the consent of persons you add as references before entering their information is your obligation. When you create a share link, the references' information including their phone number is shown to whoever opens the link.

6. Prohibited uses

On the platform you may not:

• Impersonate another person; upload forged, altered or third-party documents
• Declare untrue rank, certificate, sea service or health information
• Upload or share another person's personal data without their consent
• Share harassing, threatening, hateful, discriminatory or unlawful content
• Send advertising, spam, chain messages or bulk promotion
• Collect (scrape), copy or republish platform data using automated tools
• Attempt to circumvent security measures, attempt unauthorised access, probe for vulnerabilities or reverse-engineer
• Place excessive load on the service, send automated requests or attempt to exceed plan limits
• Demand a fee from seafarers in return for a promise of employment, or convey such an offer through the platform

Vulnerability disclosure: If you identify a security vulnerability in good faith and report it to [email protected], we will take no action against you provided you did not exploit the vulnerability or access data.

7. Profile sharing

When you create a Share Link:

• You choose which sections are shared. A section you do not select does not appear in the link at all.
• Separate explicit consent is requested for the health section.
• The link is time-limited; access ends when it expires.
• You can revoke or delete the link at any time.
• You can see an access record of who has viewed the link.

⚠️ What cannot be undone: Revoking a link does not bring back information the other party has already viewed or downloaded. Share the link only with people you trust; anyone who knows the link can access the content.

8. AI-generated content

The platform contains AI-generated content: professional summary suggestions and analyses and summaries of maritime legislation.

• AI can make mistakes and may produce incomplete or incorrect information.
• Regulatory summaries are for information purposes and are not legal advice. What is binding is the relevant official source itself. Always consult the original regulatory text before acting on an obligation.
• Professional summary suggestions are shown to you; they are not written to your profile without your approval. You are responsible for the accuracy of text you approve.
• The AI does not make an automated decision producing legal effects concerning you.

Pelastra is not liable for losses arising from decisions you make in reliance on AI output.

9. Paid plans

Plans and prices: Current plan contents and prices are published on the platform. In free use, some features are numerically limited.

Billing: Subscriptions are charged in advance for the period you select and renew automatically unless cancelled. You are informed before renewal.

Cancellation: You may cancel your subscription at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have paid for; you continue to use the service until then.

Right of withdrawal: A subscription is a service performed instantaneously in the electronic environment; under Article 15/1-ğ of the Distance Contracts Regulation there is no right of withdrawal in such contracts. At the time of purchase you declare, through a separate checkbox, that you request performance to begin immediately and that you have been informed you have no right of withdrawal. This does not remove the cases in which a refund is made — see Delivery and Refund Policy and Distance Sales Agreement.

Plan changes: If you move to a lower plan and the records you created on the higher plan exceed the new plan's limits, your existing records are not deleted; only your ability to add new records and to use the related features is restricted by the new plan's limits.

Price changes: We may change prices. A change does not affect the current period and is notified to you at least 30 days before the renewal date.

⚠️ The payment infrastructure is in preparation; as at the date of publication of this text, no fees are collected through the platform. When collection begins, payments will be taken via iyzico and the Preliminary Information Form and Distance Sales Agreement will be presented separately on the checkout screen.

10. Intellectual property

The platform itself — its software, design, trade mark and logo — belongs to Pelastra. These Terms grant you the right to use the platform; they transfer no ownership or licence.

Regulatory summaries and editorial content on the platform are Pelastra's work; you may quote them reasonably with attribution, but you may not systematically copy or republish them.

Official regulatory texts belong to public sources and are linked to the relevant source.

11. Provision of the service

We strive to provide the platform without interruption, but we give no guarantee of uninterrupted or error-free operation. Temporary interruptions may occur due to maintenance, updates or technical problems. We announce planned maintenance in advance where possible.

We may change, add or remove features. If we significantly restrict or remove a feature you use, we will inform you in advance; if it is a paid feature, we will refund the portion of the amount you paid corresponding to the unused period, or, if you prefer, terminate your subscription free of charge.

Backup is also your responsibility. Although we take regular backups, we recommend that you keep your own copies of important documents.

12. Suspension and termination

You: You may close your account at any time. Use the "Delete my account" flow in your account settings. Your account is immediately closed to access; your data is permanently deleted after 30 days, and you may reverse your request within that period.

We: We may suspend or close your account if you breach these Terms, upload forged documents, endanger the safety of others, or use the platform unlawfully. Except in urgent and serious breaches, we will inform you before closure and give you an opportunity to object.

After termination: When your account is closed, your data is deleted according to the periods in Privacy Policy §6. Your rights regarding the remaining term of a paid subscription are reserved. No refund is made on termination due to your breach.

13. Limitation of liability

The platform is provided "as is". To the maximum extent permitted by applicable legislation, we are not liable for:

• Communications, agreements and employment relationships between Users,
• The accuracy or lawfulness of content uploaded by Users,
• The conduct of an employer or a seafarer outside the platform,
• Indirect damages, loss of profit and loss of business opportunity.

Where we are liable, our total liability is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the date the claim arose.

These limitations do not apply to damages arising from our intent or gross negligence, to death and personal injury, or to liabilities that consumer legislation does not permit to be limited.

14. Indemnity

If a third party brings a claim against us because of your breach of the Terms or because of content you uploaded, you agree to cover the resulting loss and reasonable defence costs. This does not apply to the extent of our own fault where we are also at fault.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. We announce significant changes at least 30 days in advance by e-mail or in-platform notification. If you do not accept the changes, you may close your account before they take effect; if you have a paid subscription, the amount for the unused period is refunded.

16. Governing law and competent courts

These Terms are governed by Turkish law. The İstanbul Anadolu Courts and Enforcement Offices have jurisdiction over disputes.

Consumer rights are reserved: - In Türkiye, as a consumer, you may apply to the Consumer Arbitration Committees or Consumer Courts according to the monetary thresholds. - If you are a consumer established in the European Union, the mandatory consumer protection provisions of your own country are reserved and you may apply to the courts of your own country.

17. Miscellaneous

Entire agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, the Cookie Policy and the Explicit Consent Text, constitute the entire agreement between the parties.

Severability: The invalidity of one provision does not affect the others.

Assignment: You may not assign your rights. We may assign the agreement in the event of a merger or transfer of the business; you will be informed in advance in that case.

Waiver: Our failure to exercise a right does not mean we have waived it.

Language: The Turkish text of these Terms prevails. In the event of a conflict between translations, the Turkish text applies.

18. Contact

[email protected] — Melih Can Akbulut, Soğanlık Yeni Mah. Atatürk Cad. No: 13 D: 5, 34880 Kartal / İstanbul, Türkiye