Lisbon, Aug. 13, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese government has proposed to parliament that owners of power boats over four metres in length without a flag or with concealed or falsified identification could be sentenced to between one and four years in prison.
The measure is included in the draft bill to regulate the use of high-speed boats (EAV) approved on 7 August by the government in Cabinet, delivered to the Parliament on Tuesday and consulted today by Lusa on the parliament's website.
The law provides for the same criminal penalty of one to four years in prison for ‘anyone who transports, imports or exports’ power boats or "enters or leaves Portuguese territory" in them without authorisation from the Tax and Customs Authority.
This obligation does not apply to the “simple transport of power boats that are already in Portugal and have been duly regularised”.
The draft bill also establishes that it will be compulsory to submit projects for the construction or modification of power boats to the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services.
Anyone who fails to do so will face a penalty of up to two years in prison, as will crew members who carry more fuel in a power boat than is permitted or use mechanisms such as paint or electronic equipment to prevent their vessels from appearing on radar.
The current regime, which dates back to 1990, only defines the rules for the operation of these boats, failure to comply with which is penalised with fines, now increased to a maximum of €25,000 for individuals and up to €100,000 for companies.
The rules apply to boats with a total length of four metres or more and which have a “power unit with three or more engines, the effective power of any of which is equal to or greater than 95 kW (127.4 hp)” or a “power unit with any number of engines”, with a total effective power of at least 130 kW (174.33 hp).
Power boats of at least four metres whose displacement is supported “when at rest or in motion, by a continuously generated air cushion”, or which have a “hull capable of being supported completely above the surface of the water, in gliding mode” by “hydrofoil” structures are also covered.
In the draft bill, which aims to have the Parliament authorise the government to amend the original decree-law in the terms proposed, Luís Montenegro's executive justifies the need for regulation with the use of high-speed boats by drug traffickers.
"The new trafficking routes, which include the Portuguese coast, began to be mapped out from the moment Spain generically banned the use of power boats. It is therefore urgent to enact a legal regime that exerts at least the same preventive and sanctioning effect when compared to the Spanish legal regime," reads the draft bill.
IB/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
