Commanders alert: 'New rules introduced that open the way to litigation and appeals'

Ship masters are on the attack, against the changes introduced to the Navigation Code which, instead of simplifying work, impose new tasks on captains and lend themselves to critical application, opening the way to litigation and appeals. Sounding the alarm are the trade unions: Usclac, Uncdim, Smacd.

Law 182 of 2025, the so-called 'administrative simplification' law, note the three acronyms, has introduced a major intervention on the Navigation Code, substantially modifying articles 328, 331 and 172-bis and repealing article 329. The declared objective, they point out, is to overcome an old model, which was based on the public act of enlistment of personnel before the Maritime Authority (the Harbour Offices), and to make definitive some operating methods that had only been tested during the Covid emergency. In short, the new rules have overturned the role of the Harbour Offices, which used to intervene preventively on maritime work, whereas now they only do so at a later stage, for mostly documentary checks.

"In our opinion," says Commander Emanuele Bergamini, president of Usclac, who raised the issue, "the new legislation is likely to cause significant problems, especially for ship masters, who already bear an excessive workload, especially from a bureaucratic point of view, and have enormous responsibilities, including criminal ones. The heart of the reform, in particular, is the amendment to Article 328 of the Code: a distinction is now made between the master's enlistment contract, which remains a public deed before the Maritime Authority, and the crew's contracts, concluded in writing, by the master or shipowner, before two witnesses.

"The captain," Bergamini continues, "now has a decisive role in the employment relationship: not only does he sign the contract, but he must also keep it on board and note it on the crew list or licence. This delegation of powers to masters, however, is even too broad and risks causing several enforcement problems; in fact, the minimum content of the seafarers' contract has not been well defined, nor are there any standard contractual models".

The captain must also identify, and insert, all the clauses that are essential for the working document to comply with the Code of Navigation, collective bargaining, and national and international regulations. "In our opinion," says the Usclac president, "this is really too much. The risk is obvious: errors of form, omissions or unclear wording in the contract can cause it to be null and void or generate litigation, with considerable consequences on the personal and professional position of captains".