The Compulsory Insurance of Shipowners for Maritime Claims: the Strange Case of the Implementation of the Directive 2009/20/EC in Italy and Its Impacts on the Shipowner’s Limitation of Liability

Over the last century, legislative measures that impose mandatory insurance in the field of maritime navigation have been introduced with increasing frequency, both on national and international basis. The outcome of this regulatory process is represented by the introduction of a system of rules aimed at ensuring better protection to injured parties and restoring competition among economic operators, providing measures to limit the presence of ships that do not comply with adequate standards. The set of such regulatory instruments is called «Third Maritime Safety Package» and the Directive 2009/20/ EC, on the insurance of shipowners for maritime claims, is included as integral part thereof, being applied to ships of 300 gross tonnage or more and providing for the obligation for shipowners to take out adequate insurance covering their ships. The choice of introducing legislation by means of a Directive has led to differences in the implementation process of the individual Member States, raising some issues mainly linked to the identification of the subjects, risks and type of ships that should fall within the scope of the Directive. In this context, as the fulfilment of the obligations imposed by the Directive is under each State’s competence, the article will analyze the approach adopted by the Italian Legislator through the Legislative Decree no. 111/2012 which introduced rules aimed at complying with the «new» insurance regime and unfortunately led to some inconsistencies in the Italian legal framework in the sector, especially in relation to the discipline concerning the shipowner’s limitation of liability.