BANDIERAOK - the best flag for your boat
the best flag for your boat

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BANDIERAOK - the best flag for your boat
the best flag for your boat

Visit the site and request a quote

choose your flag registration and make a request for a quote FROM HERE. No commitment; you will immediately receive an email with an offer reserved for you.

quotation request

18 October 2022

In the Italian legal system, vessels are defined as pleasure craft boats 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. Crafts, as a category of pleasure craft, exist only in Italian law.

The vessels built according to the technical requirements of the European Union Directive 94/25/EC and subsequent amendments are CE marked (after 17/6/1998) and do not have a navigation limit from the coast, but 4 types of navigation linked to the conditions marine weather:

design category A: all weather conditions;
design category B: with winds up to force 8 and waves of significant height up to 4 meters (rough sea);
design category C: with winds up to force 6 and waves of significant height up to 2 meters (very rough sea);
design category D: with winds up to force 4 and waves of significant height up to 0.30 metres.

When the weather and sea conditions exceed the limits of the design category, the vessel has the obligation to repair in the nearest safe harbor.

Vessels not marked CE (before 17/6/1998), on the other hand, have navigation limits linked to the distance from the coast:

vessels called iole, pattini, sandolini, mosconi, pedal boats, canoes, kayaks, sailboards and sailing boats with a sail area not exceeding 4 square metres: within 1 mile from the coast;
jet skis and similar means: the Harbor Master's Office, the Maritime District Office or the inland navigation authority responsible for the area decides, with specific ordinances (for the operation of jet skis and similar means the age of majority is required and boat license);
boats approved for navigation without any limits or recognized as suitable by an authorized or notified technical body: within 12 miles from the coast (during navigation a copy of the approval certificate must be kept on board, with the relative declaration of conformity, or the certificate certification of the authorized or notified technical body);
all other vessels not CE marked: within 6 miles of the coast.

However, it should be noted that the possibility of navigating without any limit from the coast and in particular beyond 12 miles with an EC vessel is nullified by the 1982 Montego Bay Convention (which entered into force in 1994) which - providing for the possibility of control in waters also by military vessels and in any case the need for certain identification of the nationality of the unit subjected to possible control - requires the presentation of suitable documentation, available only to the vessel which, once registered, assumes the legal status of vessel.

A naval vessel, without elements of identification, flag and without documents on board, as in the case of a vessel, constitutes a classic example of violation of art. 91 of the aforementioned Montego Bay Convention on the recognition of the "nationality of ships" in international waters and therefore can be stopped and accompanied to the first landing for the checks deemed necessary. In the specific case, the sanctions provided for by the State of origin of the military vessel which carried out the detention are applied, which vary from country to country.
Finally, it should be remembered that boats 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 will not provides for compensation for damages, when it is proved that the vessel sailed beyond the authorized limits and above all in non-Italian waters.



 natante, italiano, categoria CE, Montego Bay

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