Where candidates go wrong
Two errors come up again and again. The first is treating the Italian-law exam as a door that any competent master can walk through. It is not. The exam is open only to people who already pass the nationality test. The second error is assuming that because a yacht is "just a yacht", merchant-ship rules do not reach it. Italian law speaks of navi battenti bandiera italiana (ships flying the Italian flag) and does not carve yachts out. Read on before you accept a command.
The nationality rule
Cod. nav. art. 292-bis says that on board Italian-flag ships the comandante (master), and the primo ufficiale di coperta (chief mate) when he performs the master's functions, must be citizens of an EU member state or of an EEA state. Access to those functions also requires a professional qualification and enough knowledge of Italian language and law to keep the documenti di bordo (ship's papers) and exercise the funzioni pubbliche (public functions) the master is vested with.
D.Lgs. 71/2015 art. 6(9) repeats the rule in the STCW decree and points back to art. 292-bis.
Who the decree catches
| Candidate | Position |
|---|---|
| EU/EEA master, not enrolled in the Italian matricole della gente di mare | Must pass the exam (D.M. 38/2012 art. 1(1)) |
| EU/EEA chief mate delegated the master's functions | Must pass the exam (art. 1(2)) |
| Italian master enrolled in the matricole | Outside the decree |
| Third-country master (UK, US, Marshall Islands, Cayman...) | Cannot command: nationality bar |
Since L. 70/2026 rewrote Cod. nav. art. 119, EU, EEA and Swiss nationals (and residents of any state) may enrol in the matricole. Whether enrolment alone takes an EU master outside D.M. 38/2012 has not been clarified; treat the exam as the safe route.
Third-country certificates
D.Lgs. 71/2015 art. 20(1) allows recognition of third-country CoCs only for functions other than master, or chief mate acting as master. MIT's list "aggiornato al luglio 2025" includes the United Kingdom among recognised third countries; the United States and the Marshall Islands are not on it. So an MCA-certificated chief mate can be endorsed as chief mate, but never act as master, and a UK master cannot command an Italian-flag ship at all.
WARNING - A consular endorsement does not cure nationality A convalida di riconoscimento (endorsement) issued to a third-country master is not available for the master function. If a yacht changes to the Italian flag, check the master's passport before the paperwork.
Yachts: the open question
Art. 292-bis, D.Lgs. 71/2015 and D.M. 38/2012 all speak of ships. D.Lgs. 71/2015 art. 1 excludes pleasure units not engaged in commercial traffic, so private yachts sit outside the STCW decree, while commercial yachts sit inside it. No circular was found confirming how Capitanerie apply D.M. 38/2012 to commercial navi da diporto. Assume it applies, and ask the Direzione marittima in writing.
What the examiner wants to see
- That you can state the rule in one sentence and cite art. 292-bis.
- That you know why you are in front of the board: EU/EEA national, not in the matricole, holding a II/2 CoC.
- That you understand the exam is about the master's public functions, not seamanship.