Legal frame
Governing: D.Lgs. 171/2005 (Codice della nautica da diporto) arts 2, 42, 42-bis and 47; D.M. 1 Sep 2021 art. 1. Builds on: nothing; start here.
Why the label matters
Most people running a beach or marina hire business call everything "rental". Italian law does not. The contract type decides who is in command, who carries the risk and the fines, which licence is needed, how many people may go aboard and which certificates must be on the boat. Get the box wrong at the start and everything downstream is wrong too.
| Locazione (bareboat hire) | Noleggio (crewed hire) | Locazione con prescrizione di comandante (hire with a named skipper) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who has the boat | The customer (conduttore) | Stays with you (noleggiante) | The customer |
| Who drives | The customer, licensed if required | You or your employee | A skipper the customer designates |
| Units | Natanti, jet skis, imbarcazioni, navi | Natanti, imbarcazioni, navi | Imbarcazioni only (10–24 m) |
| Persons | As per the builder's plate / certificate | Natanti: 12 maximum | 12 maximum, skipper excluded |
| Rules | Codice arts 42–46; D.M. 2021 art. 4 | Codice arts 47–49; D.M. 2021 art. 5 | Codice art. 42-bis (L. 70/2026) |
Locazione
In a locazione you hand over the use of the boat for a fixed period, by the hour if you like, for a fee (Codice art. 42(1); D.M. 2021 art. 1(2)(a)). Since 10 May 2026 art. 42(2) says in terms that the hirer takes temporary possession of the unit and with it the risks arising from how it is handled. For imbarcazioni and navi the contract must be in writing, on pain of nullity, with the original or a certified copy aboard (art. 42(3)). For natanti a written contract or the fiscal receipt carrying the minimum data will do (Lesson 2.1).
Noleggio
In a noleggio the boat stays at your disposal and the crew remain your employees (art. 47(1)). The customer buys a service, not the use of a boat. For natanti the 2021 decree (art. 5) adds that you navigate it yourself, holding at least a category A licence or an equivalent title. Crewed hire may not cover scheduled services between fixed points at fixed times (art. 47(2)): that is passenger transport, a different trade altogether.
Hire with a named skipper (art. 42-bis)
Added by L. 70/2026, this is Italy's answer to the "bareboat with skipper" question. The hire contract may require an imbarcazione to be commanded by someone holding at least the art. 36-bis professional title (ufficiale di navigazione del diporto di 2ª classe), designated by the hirer. Conditions:
- 12 persons at most, skipper excluded, or fewer if the type-approval certificate says so;
- a single hirer who is an individual;
- the hire contract and the hirer–skipper contract both kept aboard for the whole period.
It does not apply to natanti, and it does not turn the hire into crewed hire: the risk of handling stays on the customer's side.
WARNING — "RIB with driver" is not a bareboat hire If your employee drives, the boat is still at your disposal. That is noleggio: category A licence, 12-person cap, certificate of suitability. Calling it locazione to dodge those duties will not survive an inspection.
Commercial use: no private outings
Bareboat and crewed hire are commercial use (art. 2(1)(a)). For imbarcazioni and navi it is annotated in the central register (ATCN) and shown on the navigation licence (art. 2(2)); for natanti the annotation follows the regulation (art. 2(2-bis)). Since 2026, units used for hire may not be used for non-commercial purposes (art. 2(4)) — no Sunday outing for the owner in a fleet boat. The one opening is art. 2(2-ter): a private owner leasing an imbarcazione to a hire company leaves the annotation to the company, which states the periods of the year of commercial use.
In practice
- Decide for each fleet unit whether it will do bareboat, crewed or both: you will declare it in the CIA and mark it on the hull (Lesson 1.3).
- For imbarcazioni with a skipper chosen by the customer, use the art. 42-bis structure, not crewed hire in disguise.