Adnkronos Rome, 19 March (Adnkronos) – Confindustria Nautica continues to be strongly committed also on the front of regulatory reforms and bureaucratic simplifications to support the sector, we must consolidate the historical turnover records, strengthening the services and refitting supply chain. In 2024, as recently revealed by the Monitor statistical survey of the Confindustria Nautica Research Office, the recreational boating sector recorded the historical turnover records of the industry, approximately 8,4 billion euros, exports 4,5 billion, and direct employment, with 32.000 employees.
Confindustria Nautica has carried out a further analysis on the training needs of the shipbuilding industry and the supply chain, detected in the 9 sector assemblies into which Confindustria Nautica is divided, representing all the product segments (the sailing and motorboat sectors have been unified for the purposes of the survey).
According to estimates drawn up on Infocamere data (Ateco 2017 codes), there are 226 categories of economic activities included in the nautical supply chain, with a decreasing degree of involvement proceeding from nautical shipbuilding production to the various sectors of the supply chain, which in turn is composed of Subcontracting (Mechanics, Metallurgy, Electronics, Chemicals, plastics and rubber, Plant engineering and installations, Furnishing, textiles and finishes, Other), Trade, Charter and Services (Repairs and refitting, Ports and dedicated services).
The professions most in demand in the sector are consequently varied and reflect this breadth of the supply chain. For recreational shipbuilding and refitting, as is common for the mercantile sector, there is a strong demand for all technical professions, but also for ship captains, and a more moderate need for the roles of site manager, team leaders/boat captain. For boats (up to 24 m), in addition to the aforementioned profiles, there is moderate research linked to the Commercial and After sales areas and for inflatable boats to Cad/Cam operators. The main production sites remain, in order, the districts of Viareggio-Pisa, Rimini-Forlì, La Spezia, Massa, Genoa, Naples, Pesaro-Urbino, Ancona, Milan-Bergamo, Turin, Gorizia-Trieste, therefore with a certain balance between the east and west of the Peninsula, but with a clear prevalence of the Center-North, and these are also the areas where the labor needs highlighted by companies are mostly concentrated.
Also in order to satisfy them, Confindustria Nautica has started a collaboration with the public company Sviluppo Lavoro Italia in order to raise awareness among schools about the training courses and job opportunities offered by the recreational boating sector, with a focus on the Sea Day in Schools that will be held next April 11. Equal attention is dedicated to the sectors of services connected and absolutely necessary for the development of both production shipbuilding and refitting, and which see the national association of the category strongly committed on the front of regulatory reforms and bureaucratic simplifications. The reform of decree 121/2005 on professional qualifications in recreational boating, for example, has given new international competitiveness to Italian crews, recognized employment in shipyards and refitters as a profession equivalent to boarding for the purposes of renewing professional certifications and introduced the new simplified figure of the Second Class Recreational Officer and comes after the solution on the procedures for boarding and disembarking foreign crews on vessels stopped or undergoing maintenance in Italian ports.
The recent decree 38/06.03.2025 has established the criteria and methods for the theoretical-practical course of the Mediatore del diporto and recognized Confindustria Nautica and its associate Isyba (Italian Ship & Yacht Brokers Association) as training bodies that can in turn recognize the suitability of the respective local branches or affiliations. At the same time, the discussion with the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy for the adoption of the new decree containing the program and the exam methods was concluded positively.
After the adoption of a preferential lane for work on non-EU pleasure boats carried out at Italian shipyards, the Association has just concluded a fruitful discussion with the Director of the Customs Directorate, Claudio Oliviero, aimed at a new provision with procedural streamlining dedicated to the sector, with particular impact on the Services/Refitting segment. Finally, Confindustria Nautica is strongly committed to all three working tables "Ports", "Carriers and fleets", "Skills" of the Confindustria Sea Economy Technical Group led by Vice President Mario Zanetti, in order to share the sector issues with other reference stakeholders, starting with Confitarma and in general with all the representatives of the Cluster. Confindustria Nautica's support for the entire sector also includes strengthening the Genoa International Boat Show, now in its 65th edition, for which registrations opened on 20 February, and which this year will see the completion of the work on the city's Waterfront area redesigned by Renzo Piano and will open to the public on 18 September 2025.