This paper aims to scrutinize the subject of the assurance of shipowners for maritime loans and its impact on the practise of companies with special attention on the port cluster of Naples. The enacting of the 2009/20/CE directive of April 23th, 2009 at Community level has created a new legal framework now making responsible mainly the economical operators, increasing the quality of mercantile maritime transport and harmonizing the phenomenon in terms of assurances in the field of ship owning at Community level. In Italy, the legislative decree 111/2012 has obliged realization of the 2009/20/UE directive. This legislature at community level determines that the member states render obligatory an assurance of responsibility to a maximum amount according to the clauses of the IMO Convention concerning the maritime loans from 1976 in the way it was modified by the protocol in 1996 (LLMC Convention). The directive presupposes that the member states follow the LLMC Convention, something Italy has not done so far, since in our country the Convention has not yet gone into effect. As a consequence, the legislator is in charge of imposing the execution of the directive while our system lacks of the norms presupposed by it. Hence, the practical application of the 111/2012 directive implicates major issues.

This paper analyses shipping finance’s characteristics and trends in Italy, with particular reference to the economy of southern regions. This study, starting from an historical analysis, focuses on the following points of interest: national analysis of the maritime economy, with particular reference to the South and to the opportunities for growth and competitiveness in the Mediterranean Area; analysis of the tools and features of project finance and banking products available to the Italian companies in this sector; case histories of companies operating in the current competitive environment; comparison with international financial system.

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This study is extracted from the 1st Annual Report “Italian Maritime Economy. New routes for growth – June 2014″. The report identifies the structural features, the entrepreneurial characteristics, the economic performances and financial assets of the shipping industry companies. Moreover, it makes some observations on future developments, bearing in mind the effects and reactions that the crisis has brought about in the Italian business system.

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