Profili giuridici delle piattaforme marine e delle operazioni offshore

The thesis is based on the observation that in the exploration and exploitation of the marine subsoil the legal framework is not always sufficiently harmonised, starting from the legal status of the marine platforms, with respect to which the problem is to understand whether or not these structures can be identified as a ship or as other manmade structures such as the artificial islands.Another topic faced in this work concerns the marine location of the structures because the operations in the field of hydrocarbons have caused important incidents, which have produced serious repercussions, for the loss of human life and in terms of marine pollution. From this point of view the research provides an overview of the role played by international, european and national legislation in the development of the regulatory system for the introduction of minimum safety requirements to prevent accidents and limit their consequences.The activities under consideration also include the final operational phase, relating to the end of life of the installation, during which the international law require the removal of the structure.For this purpose, the thesis addresses the study of the Italian draft decree containing the guidelines for the decommissioning of mining marine platforms and related infrastructures which is expected to be adopted in accordance with the European legislation on this subject.