Terms of Service

Effective date: 6 October 2026 Last updated: 6 October 2026 Version: 2.0 (previous version: 1.0 — 1 September 2026)

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 §20 "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 (web, installable application and API) (the "User", "you").

Before you begin using the platform, you are asked to accept these Terms and the Privacy Policy. If you do not accept them, do not use the platform.

For company accounts, the Data Processing Agreement applies in addition to these Terms (§6).

2. Definitions

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

Pelastra is a software service that serves two audiences:

• For seafarers: keeping professional profiles and documents under their own control, tracking document validity periods, sharing the profile to the extent selected, career and sea service analyses, following sector content, messaging and community.
• For companies: fleet and operations management — personnel and crew lists, rotation and joining preparation, ticket quote tracking, document and training matrix, distribution of company documents, safety management (ISM records, forms, incidents and non-conformities, audits, hours of work and rest, watch schedule), planned maintenance, voyage reports and emissions reporting, crew wages, procurement and stock, commercial operations, fleet analytics. Offline operation for use on board.

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. A seaman's book query made at a Company's request shows the response of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure register at that moment; Pelastra does not separately guarantee the accuracy of that response.
• Not statutory payroll, accounting, tax or e-invoicing software. The crew wages calculation and commercial invoices do not replace social security (SGK), tax and accounting records.
• Not a planned maintenance system approved by a classification society (as at the effective date of these Terms). Emissions reports (IMO DCS, EU MRV, CII) do not replace verifier approval.
• Does not by itself ensure regulatory compliance. Alerts, dashboards and calculations are supporting tools; responsibility for ISM, MLC, STCW and flag state obligations lies with the Company (§14).
• Offers no job security or income guarantee.

⚠️ Pelastra is not a private employment agency and does not provide job placement or intermediary services. No job placement fee is charged to seafarers under any name; paid plans relate only to software, profile and analysis tools for company users and 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. Do not leave your session open on a shared device on board. If you notice unauthorised use of your account, report it immediately to [email protected]. You can see and close your open sessions from your account.

One person, one account. You may not transfer your account to anyone else or let anyone else use it. You cannot sign in without verifying your e-mail address.

Record opened by a Company: If a Company has opened a Managed Record on your behalf and a link has been sent to you, you can claim the record and convert it into your own account. After you claim it, only you can write to your profile.

5. When you are a Company's personnel

• When you accept a Company's personnel invitation, that Company's authorised users can see your profile, your documents and — with separate authorisation — your identity, medical certificate, bank and emergency contact information. Details: Privacy Policy §5.1.
• With your own account you can be personnel of only one Company at a time.
• You can end the Personnel Relationship yourself from your account. Ending it does not delete the records the Company has created up to that date (crew list, work and rest records, crew wages, etc.); these are the Company's records.
• For the records the Company keeps about you (appraisals, leave, safety and crew wages records), the data controller is the Company; you must apply to the Company for requests concerning these records.
• While serving on board, you are obliged to enter hours of work and rest, reports, forms and similar records truthfully. These records are used as evidence in inspections.

6. Provisions specific to company accounts

Authority: A person who opens an account on behalf of a Company, accepts an invitation on behalf of a Company or carries out transactions on behalf of a Company declares that they are authorised to do so. The Company is responsible for the actions of its users on the platform.

Data protection: With respect to Company Data, the Company is the data controller and Pelastra is the data processor. The data processing relationship between the parties is governed by the Data Processing Agreement, which forms an integral part of these Terms. In the event of a conflict concerning personal data, that agreement applies.

The Company's obligations — in summary (details in the Data Processing Agreement):

• It itself informs the employees and other persons whose records it keeps (supplier, agent and charterer representatives; persons named in cargo documents) and has a valid legal basis for the processing. Informing an employee when opening a Managed Record is the Company's obligation.
• It keeps the roles, vessel scopes and special permissions — such as identity, medical, wage and appraisal — it gives its users limited to what is necessary.
• Because on-board authorisations derive from the rank in the crew list, it enters ranks correctly.
• It uses appraisals, personnel record notes and "do not re-employ" records lawfully and in a manner that does not breach the prohibition of discrimination.
• E-mails sent via the platform to suppliers, agents and other business partners are sent on the Company's behalf; the Company is responsible for their content.

Accuracy of records: Safety, work and rest, maintenance, voyage and emissions records serve as evidence in inspections. Responsibility for entering these records truthfully, approving them and retaining them lies with the Company.

Closure of the account: When a Company account is closed, the Company may export its data within 30 days; at the end of that period, Company Data is deleted in accordance with §10 of the Data Processing Agreement.

7. Your content

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

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: Informing the persons you add to your profile as a reference or an emergency contact and obtaining their consent is your obligation. References — including their phone number — are shown to whoever opens a share link only if you separately select the references section for that link. Emergency contacts are not placed in share links; the authorised users of the Company whose personnel you are can see them.

Photographs: Photographs you take and upload on board (work report, incident, defect) may show other people. Do not photograph people in an identifiable way unless necessary.

8. Prohibited uses

On the platform you may not:

• Impersonate another person; upload forged, altered or documents that do not belong to you
• Declare untrue rank, certificate, sea service or health information
• Enter, or have someone else enter, hours of work and rest, maintenance, voyage, emissions, safety or crew wages records untruthfully
• Upload or share another person's personal data without a legal basis; use the platform for unlawful profiling of or discrimination against employees
• 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.

9. 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 references section is included only if separately selected.
• Identity numbers (Turkish identity number, passport, seaman's book, visa, certificate of competency), bank details and emergency contacts are not shared in any link.
• The link is time-limited (at most 90 days); access ends when it expires.
• You can revoke or delete the link at any time.
• You can see an access record of when the link has been viewed.

⚠️ 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.

10. Offline use

You can install the application on a device and use it on board without a connection. In that case:

• The records you enter are held on the device in encrypted form and sent once a connection is established. Until they are sent, they are not visible in the office.
• A record that is sent is checked again on the server against the rules in force at that time; a record that does not comply with the rules may be rejected, and the reason is shown to you.
• Clearing browser data or uninstalling the application also deletes your unsent records. First make sure your records have been sent.

11. 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.
• Company Data is not sent to AI services.

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

12. Paid plans

Plans and prices: Current plan contents and prices are published on the platform. In free use, some features are numerically limited (e.g. number of vessels, number of users, storage).

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 the end of the period. A Company subscription can be managed only by the Company's administrator user.

Right of withdrawal: A subscription is a service performed instantaneously in the electronic environment; under the Distance Contracts Regulation Art. 15(1)(ğ) there is no right of withdrawal in such contracts. At the time of purchase you declare, through a separate checkbox, that you request performance of the service 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. Users on board are not prevented from entering records because of the plan.

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.

13. 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. Documents uploaded to the platform by a Company (manuals, procedures, forms) belong to the Company.

14. Provision of the service and operational tools

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.

Alerts and calculations are supporting tools. Document and certificate expiry reminders, rest hour violation alerts, maintenance due dates, compliance dashboards, training gaps, laytime and demurrage, crew wages, emissions and other calculations are based on the data entered and do not replace professional judgement. The absence of an alert does not mean that no obligation exists. Tracking legal and contractual obligations is the responsibility of the user and the Company.

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

15. 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. Deleting your account does not delete the records of the Company whose personnel you are (Privacy Policy §7).

We: We may suspend or close your account if you breach these Terms, upload forged documents, enter untruthful records, 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. Before suspending a Company account, we allow a reasonable period so that operations on board can continue safely.

After termination: When your account is closed, your data is deleted according to the periods in Privacy Policy §7; for a Company account, the 30-day export period in §6 applies. Your rights regarding the remaining term of a paid subscription are reserved. No refund is made on termination due to your breach.

16. 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 and records entered by Users and Companies,
• The conduct of an employer or a seafarer outside the platform,
• Operational decisions made in reliance on alerts and calculations (§14),
• Indirect damages, loss of profit, vessel delay 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.

17. 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. With respect to Company Data, this provision also applies to claims arising from the Company's breach of its obligations as data controller. This does not apply to the extent of our own fault where we are also at fault.

18. 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.

19. Governing law and competent courts

These Terms are governed by Turkish law. The Istanbul Anatolian 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.

20. Miscellaneous

Entire agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, the Data Processing Notice, the Cookie Policy, the Explicit Consent Text, the Data Processing Agreement for Company accounts and the Distance Sales Agreement for paid subscriptions, 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.

21. Contact

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