Introduction:
Mediterranean Sea is a popular destination for sailing. A large proportion of the world’s mega-yachts (around 70%) sail in the Mediterranean year-round, with seasonal transfer from Caribbean and Indian Ocean¹. About 2200 yachts over 30 meters in length crossed Mediterranean in the summer 2021 and there will be an increase of 5% per annum of superyacht worldwide¹. According to this data¹, it’s evident how more and more guest and crews sail in international itinerary and in the future will be an important impact of yachting on maritime public health actions finalized to avoid the spread of infectious diseases.

Methods:
A simplified check list for SSEC inspections specific for commercial yacht has been adopted and used since 2022 ². From September 2023 we have integrated this very useful tool with some optional requirements derived by simplifying some points of the European Manual⁴.

Results:
Commercial yachts in many cases had a very good hygienic management system that stood out during on-board inspections for the SSEC³. Many others need to improve in a collaborative way with public health authorities.

Conclusions:
The hygienic surveillance of commercial yachts is relevant to avoid and prevent the spread of infectious diseases at international points of entry. Extension of the SHIPSAN program⁴ to the yachting sector would be desirable in the future also, in order to minimize the risk posed by all those situations that cannot be detected by SSEC inspections (For all departments many points required from shipsan are only recommended for SSEC inspections). SHIPSAN’s existing international guidelines⁴ mainly refer to large passenger ships with a board/company organization and facilities very different from a yacht, so the aim of this work is to stimulate the drawing of a specific simplified version for yachting to be included in the revised third edition of the European Manual⁴.