Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern access to and use of the VAOS website, application and related services (“VAOS”, the “Platform” or the “Services”).

These Terms form a legally binding agreement between:

DEEP BRIDGE MARITIME CONSULTING
Y4779774C
CALLE PRIMAVERA 1, ALICANTE 03012
Email: vaos@vaos.es

and the customer, organisation or professional user accessing or using VAOS (“Customer”, “User” or “you”).

By creating an account, starting a trial, subscribing to VAOS or otherwise using the Services, you agree to these Terms.

1. Business and Professional Use Only

VAOS is intended for business and professional use only.

By using VAOS, you represent and warrant that:

• you are at least 18 years old;
• you are using VAOS in a professional or business capacity;
• you have the legal authority to accept these Terms on behalf of yourself or the organisation you represent;
• you will use VAOS only in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and professional obligations.

VAOS is not intended for consumer or household use.

2. Description of the Services

VAOS provides a professional software workspace for maritime auditors, superintendents, vetting teams and related maritime professionals.

The Services may include:

• trip and audit planning;
• vessel preparation workflows;
• audit execution tools;
• checklist and observation management;
• report preparation support;
• vessel and audit data management;
• user account and subscription management;
• dashboards, statistics and operational insights;
• integrations or references to third-party maritime data sources, where available.

The exact features available may depend on the selected plan, development stage, configuration, customer agreement or technical availability.

3. Account Registration and Security

To use VAOS, you may need to create an account.

You are responsible for:

• providing accurate and up-to-date registration information;
• maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials;
• all activity occurring under your account;
• ensuring that only authorised users access your account or organisation workspace;
• immediately notifying us of any suspected unauthorised access, security incident or misuse.

We may suspend or restrict access if we reasonably believe that an account has been compromised, misused or used in breach of these Terms.

4. Free Trial

VAOS may offer a free trial for new users.

Unless otherwise stated:

• the free trial lasts 7 days;
• no payment is required during the trial period;
• access may be limited, modified or discontinued at the end of the trial;
• we may prevent repeated trial abuse or multiple trial accounts for the same user or organisation.

Trial features may differ from paid plan features.

5. Subscriptions, Billing and Taxes

VAOS may be provided through monthly, annual or other subscription plans.

By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to pay all applicable fees associated with the selected plan.

Unless otherwise stated:

• fees are charged in EUR;
• fees are exclusive of applicable VAT/IVA and taxes;
• subscriptions renew according to the selected billing cycle;
• invoices will be issued based on the billing information provided by the Customer;
• payment processing may be handled by third-party payment providers.

You are responsible for providing accurate billing, tax and invoicing information.

If payment fails or remains overdue, we may suspend or terminate access to the Services after reasonable notice.

6. Cancellation and Refunds

You may cancel your subscription according to the cancellation options available in the Platform or by contacting support.

Unless otherwise required by applicable law or expressly stated in a separate agreement:

• cancellation stops future renewals;
• access continues until the end of the current paid billing period;
• paid fees are non-refundable;
• no credits are provided for partial billing periods.

7. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• use VAOS for unlawful, fraudulent, harmful or misleading purposes;
• use VAOS in violation of applicable maritime, data protection, export control, sanctions, employment, safety or professional rules;
• submit false, misleading or intentionally inaccurate audit data;
• upload malware, harmful code or content that disrupts the Services;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to VAOS, other accounts or related systems;
• interfere with the security, availability or integrity of VAOS;
• reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or attempt to derive source code from VAOS, except where permitted by mandatory law;
• scrape, crawl or extract data from VAOS without written permission;
• use VAOS to infringe third-party rights, including intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy or contractual rights;
• share account credentials with unauthorised persons.

8. User Data and Customer Content

“User Data” means data, files, content, audit materials, vessel information, photographs, reports, observations, comments, evidence, configuration, account information and other materials submitted to VAOS by or on behalf of the Customer.

As between the parties, the Customer retains ownership of User Data.

You grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to host, store, process, transmit, display and use User Data solely to:

• provide and maintain the Services;
• secure, troubleshoot and improve the Services;
• comply with legal obligations;
• provide support requested by you;
• enforce these Terms.

You are responsible for ensuring that you have the right and authority to upload, store, process and use User Data in VAOS.

9. Personal Data and Data Protection

Our processing of personal data is described in the Privacy Policy.

Where VAOS processes personal data on behalf of a business customer as a processor, the Data Processing Agreement applies.

The Customer is responsible for ensuring that personal data submitted to VAOS has been lawfully collected and may be processed through the Services.

10. Confidentiality

Each party may receive confidential or proprietary information from the other party.

Each party agrees to:

• protect confidential information using reasonable care;
• use confidential information only for purposes related to the Services;
• not disclose confidential information except to authorised personnel, service providers, legal advisers or where required by law.

Confidentiality obligations do not apply to information that is public, independently developed, lawfully obtained from a third party or required to be disclosed by law.

11. Intellectual Property Rights

VAOS, including its software, source code, object code, architecture, workflows, user interface, design, branding, documentation, databases, templates, analytics structures and related materials, is owned by DEEP BRIDGE MARITIME CONSULTING or its licensors.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to access and use VAOS for your internal professional or business purposes.

No rights are granted except as expressly stated in these Terms.

12. Professional Responsibility and Maritime Compliance Disclaimer

VAOS is a software tool designed to support maritime audit workflows, planning, documentation and reporting.

VAOS does not replace the professional judgement of auditors, inspectors, vessel operators, superintendents, classification societies, flag administrations, port authorities, vetting organisations or other competent authorities.

Users remain solely responsible for:

• verifying the accuracy, completeness and applicability of all audit data;
• checking whether any checklist, guidance, observation, vessel data or regulatory reference is current and applicable;
• making professional, operational, compliance, commercial and safety-related decisions;
• complying with applicable maritime regulations, contractual obligations and professional standards.

VAOS does not provide legal, safety, classification, certification, vetting or regulatory approval services.

13. Third-Party Standards, Organisations and Trademarks

VAOS may refer to maritime standards, regimes, organisations or industry terminology, including SIRE, CDI, RISQ, PSC, OCIMF, RightShip or similar references.

Such references are used for descriptive and workflow-support purposes only.

VAOS is an independent software platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or officially connected with OCIMF, CDI, RightShip or any other third-party standards body, unless expressly stated otherwise.

All third-party trademarks, names, standards and materials remain the property of their respective owners.

Users are responsible for ensuring that their use of any third-party standard, questionnaire, publication, guidance or proprietary material complies with applicable licences and permissions.

14. Third-Party Data and AIS Disclaimer

VAOS may display, process or link to vessel, AIS, ETA, port, ownership, management, technical or other maritime data obtained from third-party sources.

Such data may be incomplete, delayed, inaccurate, unavailable or subject to third-party terms.

Third-party vessel or AIS data must not be used as the sole basis for navigation, safety, emergency, legal, commercial, operational or compliance decisions.

We are not responsible for the accuracy, availability or completeness of third-party data sources.

15. Service Availability and Changes

We aim to provide a reliable and secure service, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free or permanent availability.

We may modify, update, suspend, discontinue or restrict features for operational, technical, security, legal or business reasons.

Where reasonably possible, we will provide advance notice of material changes affecting paid customers.

16. Support

Support may be provided through email, in-app support channels or other methods communicated by VAOS.

Unless a separate written agreement states otherwise, we do not guarantee specific response times, resolution times or service levels.

17. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, VAOS is provided “as is” and “as available”.

We disclaim all warranties, whether express, implied or statutory, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, availability, accuracy, security or error-free operation.

18. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, DEEP BRIDGE MARITIME CONSULTING, VAOS, its owners, employees, contractors, suppliers and affiliates shall not be liable for:

• indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages;
• loss of profits, revenue, business, goodwill or anticipated savings;
• loss, corruption or interruption of data;
• business interruption;
• operational, maritime, safety, vetting, compliance or commercial decisions made by users;
• damages caused by third-party data, third-party services or customer content.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, VAOS’ total aggregate liability arising out of or related to the Services shall not exceed the amounts paid by the Customer to VAOS during the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability where such limitation is not permitted by applicable law.

19. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless DEEP BRIDGE MARITIME CONSULTING, VAOS, its owners, employees, contractors, suppliers and affiliates from claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs and expenses arising from:

• your use or misuse of VAOS;
• your User Data;
• your breach of these Terms;
• your violation of applicable laws or professional obligations;
• your infringement of third-party rights;
• your unauthorised use of third-party standards, publications, trademarks or proprietary materials.

20. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate access to VAOS if:

• you breach these Terms;
• payment is overdue;
• your use creates security, legal, operational or reputational risk;
• required by law or competent authority;
• your account is inactive or misused.

Upon termination:

• your right to access and use VAOS ceases;
• we may retain or delete User Data according to the Privacy Policy, DPA, legal obligations and applicable retention rules;
• provisions intended to survive termination will remain in effect.

21. Export, Sanctions and Restricted Use

You may not use VAOS in violation of applicable export control, sanctions or trade restrictions.

You represent that you are not located in, organised under the laws of, or ordinarily resident in a jurisdiction subject to comprehensive sanctions where use of VAOS would be prohibited.

22. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.

For material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify users, such as by email, in-app notice or posting an updated version on the website.

Continued use of VAOS after the effective date of updated Terms constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

23. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Spain.

Unless mandatory law provides otherwise, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services shall be submitted to the competent courts of Madrid, Spain.

24. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact:

DEEP BRIDGE MARITIME CONSULTING
Email: vaos@vaos.es
Website: https://vaos.es