Tassos Mavris
Journalist • Columnist
Member: AJE & Community
Radio and Italian Television
Over the past 15 years, numerous sailing boats have been intercepted off the Italian coast by law enforcement and confiscated by judicial authorities. These were boats purchased and converted by migrant smugglers and drug traffickers into assets for committing heinous crimes and enriching international criminal organizations.
Their fate once they arrived in Italian ports was supposed to be disposal—or maybe not. Lega Navale Italiana (LNI), the main public body and association dedicated to maritime activities in Italy since 1897, recovered many of these boats thanks to the work of its volunteer members and with the association’s own funds, without any public contributions. The Italian State chose to entrust these boats—often in disastrous condition—to the Lega Navale, recognizing its authority in the maritime sector. The association gave new life to these ships, now employed in activities of public interest.
Today, the “fleet of legality” of the Lega Navale Italiana consists of 28 sailing boats, ranging from 34 to 53 feet in length, carrying out projects in the fields of maritime culture, social inclusion, sport, and environmental protection along the Italian coasts, in line with the LNI’s institutional mission.
Researchers from the University of Bari have conducted water quality studies in the Adriatic Sea aboard them; children supported by Save the Children in Sicily saw their city from the sea for the first time; young people with disabilities learned the basics of navigation in the Ionian Sea; and established Italian writers found inspiration for their works in the movement of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
“In memory of a massacre” is an expression that refers to the commemoration of a tragedy—often a violent event or mass killing—that claimed the lives of many people. It conveys both the act of remembering the victims and the need to keep the event alive in collective memory, usually with the purpose of honoring those who died and calling for justice.
All of these experiences took place aboard the “boats of legality” during the first year of the “Mare di Legalità” (“Sea of Legality”) campaign, an initiative launched by Admiral Donato Marzano, President of the Lega Navale Italiana, to coordinate and effectively employ these sailing boats in initiatives serving local communities, particularly the most vulnerable people. Departing from Ostia, the port of Rome, and greeted by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the first eight boats set sail on June 28, 2024—one of them named after the President’s brother, Piersanti, who was assassinated by the Mafia on January 6, 1980, while serving as President of Sicily.
In the biennium 2024-25, these 28 “boats of legality” have sailed thousands of miles, carried out hundreds of activities, and gifted countless smiles and emotions to those who have come aboard. The aim of the “Sea of Legality” campaign is to promote maritime activities—especially for young people and vulnerable groups—while safeguarding the sea and spreading the principles of legality and the values of the Lega Navale Italiana, outlined in the association’s Charter of Values: hospitality, competence, respect, loyalty, belonging, availability, solidarity, sustainability, and love for the sea.
But why did the LNI choose to call them “boats of legality”?
“There is a sort of ‘law of retaliation’ we want to follow: these boats once used by organized crime now carry out activities centered on values such as legality and solidarity. Each vessel has been dedicated to the memory of a victim of the Mafia or terrorism,” explains Admiral Donato Marzano, who has led the LNI since 2020. “The faces and names of women, men, and children killed in Italy by criminal organizations are depicted on the mainsails, on a banner raised at the bow, and on a standard displayed on land when the boat is moored, recounting both the boat’s past and the victim’s story. We bring their stories to schools and ports.”
Alongside Piersanti Mattarella, the victims commemorated include judges, priests, entrepreneurs, university professors, law enforcement officers, journalists, and trade unionists. The Mafia has murdered across all sectors of society in the post-war years, particularly in Southern Italy—and tragically, even in the 2000s, children were among the victims. One of the latest “boats of legality” to become operational, Helena, was dedicated to 12-year-old Stella Costa, an innocent victim of a local gang shootout in 2002 in San Severo (Puglia).
Another ship, Our Dream, is “a dream come true” thanks to the collaboration between the LNI, the University of Palermo, and the Order of Engineers: it is the first sailing boat in the “fleet of legality” made fully accessible to people with physical disabilities, with all architectural barriers removed. This Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 53, confiscated from organized crime for international drug trafficking, was dedicated to the memory of the two most known anti-Mafia judges: Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
More broadly, “In memory of a massacre” underscores the importance of remembering such tragic events, both to honor the victims and to help ensure that similar atrocities are not repeated.
These boats thus offer everyone the opportunity to experience the sea while serving as a living testimony to the history and values of those public servants who fought against Mafia and terrorist organizations. Much remains to be done, but the Lega Navale continues to sail with clear goals. “The challenges for the future of the ‘Sea of Legality’ campaign,” says Admiral Marzano, “are to bring more and more people closer to the sea and to give everyone—especially those who could never afford it—the chance to experience sailing on these boats.
The success of this campaign is measured not only by the numbers achieved in the first year, but above all by keeping alive the spirit of sacrifice in service of legality, in memory of the many Mafia and terrorism victims to whom we have dedicated these ships. The ‘boats of legality’ must serve both as a symbol of legality and as a warning to future generations. They remind us of the commitment of these people and of our duty to work every day to defeat criminal organizations still deeply rooted in our society.”
