Lake Garda Crackdown: Police Crack Down on Illegal Boat Moorings

Hard times for illegal water users. Controls resumed in recent days to verify the legality of buoys and moorings placed along the Veronese shore of Lake Garda. The first crackdown was carried out in mid-August by the police, in collaboration with the Port Inspection Authority. This time, it was the Carabinieri of the Peschiera nautical squadron who took to the water with their patrol boats, again accompanied by inspectors. The target was a large section of Benaco between Peschiera and Castelletto.

Complaints and removals

Just in Castelletto, a German owner of a seven-meter boat moored illegally inside the port was reported to the authorities. His excuses, claiming that he tied the boat to that buoy because of a storm that had struck Garda three days earlier, proved useless. The Carabinieri issued two reports and the boat was removed by a specialized company.

This is a significant development. For the first time in ten years, a company has been contracted to handle removal services. During this entire period, law enforcement was unable to remove boats. Now, occupying a mooring illegally can really become costly.

The operators responsible for violating the specific rules of the navigation code face criminal charges and heavy fines, ranging from two to twelve million euros. Also in Castelletto, the Carabinieri removed another boat, whose owner has not yet been located. It is a six-meter sailboat without an engine.

Among those reported is also a French national. His five-meter motorboat was parked in the Peschiera canal. Again, the justification (“Nobody was there, so I parked my boat”) was not enough to avoid fines and charges. Also in trouble were a Milanese and a Verona resident.

The first had “parked” his six-meter sailing boat in Bardolino; the second, also in Bardolino, had moored his sailboat to a buoy that was not his. All seized boats were taken to Lazise, where they are available to their owners. The removal serves to free the mooring and return it to the owner.

However, the problem is not as simple as it may seem. In fact, mooring spots are increasingly difficult to find, not only in ports but also on buoys scattered along the shore. Waiting lists in some tourist spots are very long, and it can take years before one can hope to get a “slice” of water.

This is also why many resort to illegal arrangements. Evidence of this is the proliferation of illegal buoys outside ports, especially during the summer months. Some municipalities are addressing this by reorganizing boat spaces, considering changing needs as well as the importance of protecting nature and the landscape. (.)