Boating license registry, it’s on. What changes from November 2025

Boating 4.0 takes another step forward: after the computerization of maritime registries and the creation of the Telematic Desks of the Yachtsman , the national registry of nautical licenses can also turn on its engines.

National boating license registry

In fact, on May 9, the decree of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport was published in the Official Gazette, which in consultation with the Minister of the Interior and Public Administration introduces the implementing regulations for the establishment and management of nautical licenses through a digitized data center so as to centralize all licenses, manage them in a coordinated manner, consult them in real time and also create an archive of the most serious infractions.

Thus, the era of paper-based management dispersed in a myriad of archives of the Harbour Offices, maritime district offices and the civil motorization with the inevitable slowdowns, errors and difficulties of access also ends for nautical licenses. A measure that has been awaited for years, this one of the computerized archive of nautical licenses, since it was foreseen since the last reform of the Recreational Boating Code in 2017 (art. 39 bis) but until now it had remained at the stake. The decree, which will come into force on November 24, 2025, although it radically reforms the system of managing nautical licenses, will not result in practical changes for boaters, neither in terms of how the document is issued or renewed, nor in terms of the offices set up to do so (harbor master’s offices, maritime district offices, and civil DMV offices). Let’s look at the details.

The purposes

The national registry of nautical licenses was created “for the purposes of navigational safety and the safeguarding of human life at sea, the prevention and repression of crimes committed through the use of recreational craft, the optimization of administrative action, and to have complete and up-to-date data on recreational users.” In short, to make sure that all information related to boating licenses is centralized, organized, updated in a timely manner and available for consultation by authorized offices and bodies in real time, including some of the offenses committed by holders.

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Boating license registry, organization

The digital boating license registry consists of a computerized system located at the Data Processing Center of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and consists of 5 sections:

• Master data: which contains the master data of the holders of the boating license;
• licenses: with each holder’s license data including issuances, renewals, suspensions, revocations, duplicates and revisions;
• prescriptions and limitations: with any indications of special prescriptions that may relate, for example, to limits on the duration of the license due to the outcome of medical examinations of mental or physical fitness. But also the obligation to make use of assistants on board in case of specific motor or sensory deficits, or special prescriptions that may concern the type of pleasure craft, the characteristics of the hull, the power of the installed engine, etc.
• violations: containing data on infractions committed by the holder of the boating license with recreational units; but not all infractions, only those that result in “ancillary administrative penalties,” such as seizure of the unit or its administrative detention, suspension of the boating license, etc.
• Marine accidents: contains data on the most serious accidents, those in which the holder from the marine license was involved with “charge of responsibility” and which were followed by an ancillary administrative penalty or a final criminal conviction. For each accident, an indication of the unit involved, the time and place where it occurred, and the details of the penalty disbursed (or sentence issued) are given.

Updates

The national boating license registry is updated by Port Authorities, maritime district offices and civil DMV offices each time the document is issued, renewed, suspended, revoked, revised and duplicated. Similarly, Port Authorities and other determining bodies (Guardia di Finanza, Police, Carabinieri, etc.) must promptly (within 5 days) transmit to the Data Processing Center any notifications involving an ancillary administrative penalty or knowledge of res judicata criminal judgments.

Updating licenses issued prior to the decree’s entry into force (so-called “migration”) will take place at the first useful opportunity (renewal, duplicate, etc.). This means that there will be no inconveniences or recalls for those who already have a boat license, but also it will take a very long time (estimated up to 10 years) to build a complete national database.

Privacy

Considering the amount of sensitive personal data (including health and judicial information) that the new database will concentrate, ample space in the decree is reserved for the protection of privacy and confidentiality of information, as well as for defining who is allowed access, which is permitted only for institutional purposes and to the extent necessary. All access will also be tracked, and there is provision for monitoring by the ministry, which is required to inform the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali in the event of violations.

Registry of boating licenses, in conclusion

The new registry of nautical licenses is therefore certainly a powerful tool, an important piece in the path of computerization of recreational boating destined, once fully operational, to speed up the processing of paperwork, reduce the margins of error and data omission, and ensure faster and more coordinated controls.

In contrast, this centralized “filing” of boaters will lead to personal digital profiles complete with health and judicial information with the possibility of cross-checking by different administrative bodies. With the risk of unauthorized access, illicit use, danger of cyber attacks or improper disclosure. The two faces of technological innovation with which we are increasingly confronted.

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