Coast Guard of Genova

Ordinance N° 229/98

CONSIDERED: the Act 11.02.1971, n° 50 and following modifications, under the title of "Norms about the Private Navigation";
CONSIDERED: the strong increase of scuba diving activities within the Marine District of Genova, particularly in the waters facing the Cape of Portofino, showing intense private navigation traffic;
CONSIDERED: that the main scuba diving activities are performed under organized forms and with the aid of supporting naval units;
IN CONSIDERATION OF THE NEED: of establishing useful and needed prescriptions for the maintenance of the public safety, without placing any obstacles to further competent authorities;
CONSIDERED: the Act 14.7.1965, n°963 about the rules for Sea Fishing and the Regulation to its appliance, approved with DPR n° 1639 dated 2.10.1968:
CONSIDERED: the Article 10 of the Decree 21.10.1996, n° 535 converted in Law 23.1.1996 n° 647, stating dispositions about the conduction of private boats that are rented in the sea waters;
CONSIDERED: the Articles 17,30,68 & 81 of the Naval Code and the Article 59 of the related Appliance Regulations (maritimal section) as well;

STATES

PART A - SCUBA DIVES WITH GUIDE

ARTICLE A.1
Within the waters of the Marine Disctrict of Genova the performing of organized scuba diving activities (guided dives) for touristic/recreational purposes that occure with supporting naval units, is uniquely allowed to Societies/Sport Clubs/Associations/Enterprises that expressively foresee such activities within their internal Rulement or Statute and is subordinated to the compliance with the prescriptions following here below.

ARTICLE A.2
The safety gear foreseen by the current safety norms applied in accordance with the kind of naval unit and navigation performed, must be at least integrated by following ones:

- Terapeutic Oxigen Suppy Device under standing air delivery with at least seven Liter cylinder, or three Liter cylinder if this is provided with regulator with flux on   demand or similar other patented devices.
- Communication Device that can assure the contact with the Rescue Centers (provided with backup batteries or with plug for the continuous recharge of the battery on   board);
- table showing the tel. numbers and/or the Radio hearing frequencies of the main Rescue Centers (Maritime Authorities; Hospitals, Ligurian Emergency Rescue,   Compression Chamber Centers etc..) in compliance with attachment A;
- Rescue Bag;
- at least one backup cylinder provided with double regulator or with devices for the air delivery from surface which have to be positioned, during the whole diving   time, at a depth between 10 fsw/3 m. and 16 fsw/5m.

ARTICLE A.3
Before leaving, the person responsible for the naval unit must write down on the related table the list of any participants to the dive, indicating the owned certifications, and the names of the diving guides, if present.

ARTICLE A.4
The diving guide must be owner of a recognized certification.
This must be released by one of the national or international widely acknowledged Federations/Enterprises/Associations, and he must operate within the limits that are fixed by his own certification, by assuming all civil and penal responsibilities related to the performed activity.
Every guide may not be leading more than four divers at the same time during the dive sessions and he must comply with the depth range limits established by their own certifications; in case of certifications of different degree the depth limit which is foreseen by the lowest degree must be observed.

ARTICLE A.5
In case of dives with anchored support unit, the anchoring must be performed in such a way the this can be easily released during emergency; under these circumstances the anchoring point must be indicated on surface by means of a floating buoy (...).

ARTICLE A.6
During the dive the naval unit must be constantly occupied by a person able to handling it and to make emergency calls in case of need.

*)
This text is a not official translation of parts from the original document.
It is meant to be an additional help to the foreign diver for understanding some major points of the Italian Regional Law.
Wreckdiveliguria does not make itself responsible for the true content of the text and lets the reader directly refer to the original Italian text.