The warm season is approaching and many Italian boaters who own unregistered "vessels" find themselves faced with the problem of safely accessing extra-territorial waters (Croatia, Slovenia, France, Greece...).
Let's return to the issue and start with the definition of "vessel" for Italian law (full article here).

ITALIAN "VESSEL": DEFINITION
In the Italian legal system, "vessels" are defined as recreational vessels whose hull, measured according to the harmonized standards EN/ISO/DIS 8666, has a length equal to or less than 10 m, regardless of their propulsion.
Vessels, as a category of recreational vessels, exist only in Italian law.
Vessels are excluded from the obligation to register in the registers of recreational vessels (R.I.D.) kept by the Port Authorities, the Maritime District Offices and the STED Offices and therefore are unregistered movable assets.

NAVIGATION LIMITS
Vessels with CE marking (after 17/6/1998) can navigate up to 12 NM from the coast while those without CE marking have a navigation limit of 6 NM from the coast (unless special authorizations are required).
The possibility of navigating without any limit from the coast and in particular beyond 12 miles with a CE vessel is nullified by the Montego Bay Convention of 1982 (entered into force in 1994) which - providing for the possibility of control in international waters also by military vessels and in any case the need for certain identification of the nationality of the unit subjected to any control - requires the exhibition of suitable documentation, which is available only to the vessel which, once registered, assumes the legal status of a vessel.

The above has prevented access of vessels to the territorial waters of some European countries. In others (such as Croatia) there is still great uncertainty in the regulations interpreted differently from time to time by the various Port Authorities.
Finally, it must be remembered that vessels are covered by compulsory insurance for the authorized navigation limits (6 or 12 miles) and in the event of an accident at sea in which people are also involved, with injuries or otherwise, the insurance company may not provide compensation for damages, when it is proven that the vessel was sailing beyond the limits of qualification and especially in non-Italian waters.

THE CERTIFICATE FOR PLEASURE VESSELS
The provision of the Italian government announced during 2024 has encountered many difficulties in being accepted, at least for the moment. The declaration of ownership and the DCI issued by Confindustria nautica do not in fact allow the identification of the unit as the official flag registrations do and several states still do not recognize it to allow access to their territorial waters.

For all the points listed above we advise all Italian yachtsmen to register their vessel in a recognized flag state.

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