EU biometric border checks threaten summer ferry chaos at Italian ports

European ferry ports have warned that the EU's new Entry-Exit System (EES), which requires biometric data collection for non-EU travellers, will create severe congestion at maritime borders this summer, according to The Local Italy. The system, designed to tighten border security, demands the capture of fingerprints and facial images for every third-country national entering the EU—a process that adds minutes per passenger and compounds during peak tourism season.

For Italy's Riviera ports, which funnel cruise passengers and ferry travellers into Liguria's coastal towns and onward into Tuscany and beyond, the EES represents a critical chokepoint. Genoa's passenger terminals and smaller ports along the coast handle seasonal surges of ferry traffic; adding mandatory biometric processing to each arrival threatens to create queues that deter time-sensitive travellers and damage the experience that draws them to the Mediterranean in the first place.

Global tourism chiefs have reinforced the warning. According to The Local Italy, tourism leaders say travellers from around the world are already being deterred by the prospect of long border delays at European entry points. For Liguria, which competes with other Mediterranean destinations for cruise and leisure traffic, the EES rollout arrives at a moment when the region's tourism recovery remains fragile.