The Croatian harbour authorities are increasingly demanding written proof from crews entering the country via Italy that they have cleared out properly. The reason for the tougher approach to border crossings is probably the Croatians' attempt to fulfil the requirements for joining the Schengen Agreement as precisely as possible.
As Croatia is a member of the EU but has not yet joined the agreement, the border crossing with a complete exit and entry procedure is still required by law. This also applies to crews coming from Slovenia in the Adriatic. Only between Italy and Slovenia is it now possible to travel back and forth without any border formalities. However, many sailors are unaware of the Schengen status of the Croatians and do not formally clear out on the Italian side. In some cases, the harbour authorities in Italy did not even require a clearance. It was quite common to only clear in and out of Croatia. But that now seems to be changing. German sailors are reporting in sailing forums that the local Italian authorities have informed them that stricter checks will be carried out from this year at the latest.
Crews now have to call at a port of entry on both the Italian and Croatian sides and go through the correct bureaucratic procedure there.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
