Italian Marine Industry Association at the ICOMIA 2025 Congress in Palma de Mallorca

ICOMIA 2025 Congress © Confindustria Nautica

The Annual Congress held by ICOMIA, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations, and hosted this year in Palma de Mallorca by Spain's own National Marine Industry Association ANEN, came to a close yesterday evening after five days of activities and conferences.

The event, which as usual saw the active participation of the Italian Marine Industry Association through its delegated representative Andrea Razeto, was held once again this year in conjunction with the annual Congress organised by IFBSO, the International Federation of Boat Shows Organisers, of which the Genoa International Boat Show is a prominent member.

The activities that made up the ICOMIA conference, which kicked off on Sunday 25th May with visits to marinas in the local area, reached their climax on the following Monday and Tuesday with key meetings of the three committees coordinated by Head of the Italian Marine Industry Association's Research Department Stefano Pagani Isnardi: the Technical Committee, the Superyacht Division, and the newly formed Trade and Market Intelligence Committee (TMI).

The most prevalent topics discussed within the Technical Committee concerned the preparation of the upcoming revision of the European Recreational Craft Directive.

The Superyacht Division's focus was on the implications for the boating sector of the proposals put forward with regards to the reduction of greenhouse gases, as approved at the recent meeting of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 83); precisely because of the strategic nature of these measures, ICOMIA has decided to continue to commit more and more to a significant presence within the IMO, in collaboration with national associations driven by a strong interest in the Superyacht sector, including the active participation of the Italian Marine Industry Association. A further topic of great interest was the French delegate's update on the latest news on anchorage restrictions along the French Riviera and in France: the recent opening of a new buoy field for large yachts in the Saint Tropez area has the potential to trigger a positive review of the current restrictive measures in place. ICOMIA has set up a section of its online portal dedicated to updates regarding the protection of Posidonia meadows and relative anchoring restrictions: www.icomia.org/posidonia-oceanica-yacht-moorings

During the TMI Statistical Committee meeting, one of the most significant points of discussion that stood out concerned trade tariffs: the input of the United States' delegates provided a clearer understanding of their Administration's decisions moving forward. Among the new resources made available on the ICOMIA online portal is a page dedicated to updates regarding tariff measures: www.icomia.org/tariffs

At the Annual General Meeting, which marked the conclusion of the 2025 ICOMIA Congress, Frank Hugelmeyer, President of the United States' marine industry association NMMA, was elected as the new Board President of ICOMIA, succeeding his Australian predecessor Darren Vaux. The new Vice President is Jarkko Pajusalo, from the Finnish Finnboat Association. Also joining the Board of Directors, on which Andrea Razeto of the Italian Marine Industry Association already sits, are José-Luis Fayos of the Spanish Association ANEN, Alpaslan Sirkecioglu of the Turkish YATED federation, Mats Eriksson of the Swedish SWEBOAT association, and Andrew Scott of the Australian BIA federation.

The next Congress will be held from 24th to 28th May 2026 in Washington DC, hosted by NMMA.