Contracts used for the charter or lease of pleasure vessels in pleasure navigation : an Italian perspective

The Italian Navigation Code has transposed the practices developed at international level, in particular in international contracts for the ‘’locazione’’ and ‘’noleggio’’ of ships, distinguishing between the ship lease, from the one side, and the charter, from the other. The latter, in particular, consists of voyage charter and time charter. However, the Italian discipline differs in several respects from the contract types developed at international level. As for pleasure vessels, a specific regime lacked until the Law of 11 February 1971, No 50. The great development of this sector (which was previously considered limited to the use of pleasure vessels only for personal purposes), in particular of the entrepreneurial use of these vessels, furthered the draft and enactment, in 2005, of the Pleasure Navigation Code (Law of 18 July 2005, No 171), providing for a more comprehensive regime, however still not covering all the issues and aspects of pleasure navigation. The Code provides for a special regime of the contracts for the lease and charter of pleasure vessels: this article provides a review of the regime of these contracts provided by the Italian Pleasure Navigation Code, with regard also to its relationship with the Navigation Code and the Civil Code. The Code’s provisions are also examined with reference to standard contracts developed at the international level.