Infringements and fines on recreational boats
Firstly, as far as maritime navigation is concerned, both in the field of the Merchant Navy and in the field of sport navigation, there are a series of infractions that the law classifies as such. Specifically, the Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011, of September 5, which approves the Consolidated Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Marine, establishes a series of infractions classifying them as minor, serious and very serious, regulated in articles 305 and following of the aforementioned Royal Decree.
Types of infringements
The classification of the infringements is directly related to the amount of the penalty. For minor penalties a ceiling of 60,000 euros is established, for serious penalties a range of up to 120,000 and 601,000 euros, and for very serious penalties fines of up to 901,000 and 3,005,000 euros. In view of the above, and in order to put the above sanctions into practice, several examples corresponding to the different sanctions are shown below.
- Minor infringements:
Lack of documentation both personal and of the vessel, failure to provide the information to be supplied to the Maritime Authority, actions of the embarked persons who in a state of drunkenness or under the influence of psychotropic substances, toxic drugs or narcotics, endanger the safety of the vessel, throwing garbage from the vessel.
- Serious infringements:
Navigating with a vessel that is not registered/registered in accordance with the rules on ship registration, serious inaccuracy of the documentation, lack of nautical title that enables you to navigate according to the navigation area or length of the vessel, misrepresentation of information required by regulations to be provided to the maritime authorities, crew in a state of drunkenness, change of inboard engines without proper authorization, sailing outside of marked channels less than 200 meters from the beach, endangering maritime safety and deliberate dumping of polluting waste.
- Very serious infringements:
Seriously endangering the safety of navigation and of the vessel, refusal of the duty to render assistance, use of distress signals without the need to do so, embarking on navigation without the vessel being in proper navigational conditions, putting safety at risk, providing navigation services without the proper administrative authorization when required by law.
The prescription period established in article 309 of the aforementioned Royal Decree, in reference to the aforementioned infringements, is as follows: five years for very serious infringements, three years for serious infringements, and one year for minor infringements.
All things considered, once the different punishable infringements by the Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011, of September 5, which approves the Revised Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Marine have been analyzed. As far as recreational vessels are concerned, from the nautical law firm Leuba Mazcaray, we are able to deal with all types of fines and penalties arising from the maritime penalty regime, defending the interests of our clients, and fighting to obtain the desired result, mitigating and significantly reducing any possible sanction arising from the maritime penalty procedure.