L’esercizio dei poteri di controllo dello Stato di approdo nei confronti di navi straniere destinate a sistematica attività di ricerca e soccorso marittimo di persone

This article deals with the issue of the Port State Control through the analysis of the judgement delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 1 August 2022. The Court was called upon by the Sicilian Regional Administrative Court to give a preliminary ruling about the interpretation of Directive 2009/16/EC on Port State Control and of the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, in the context of two sets of proceedings concerning the grounding, by the Italian Maritime Authority, of two private foreign vessels systematically engaged in searching and rescuing migrants at sea while certified and classified as cargo vessels by their flag State. The article analyses the recent Italian regulation on the management of migratory flows, the Decree-Law 2 January 2023, no. 1, so-called Piantedosi.