Luisa Cavallo
Luisa Cavallo is currently a permanent employee of SAIPEM S.p.A., serving as Permitting Manager and Diving Specialist. She is assigned to the Cassiopea Project (Gela), to former FSRU Project (Ravenna), as well as projects in Libya, Greece, and Romania, and supports SONSUB, a SAIPEM Group company specializing in underwater defence systems.
In this role, she is responsible for all project permitting activities and for ensuring the legal compliance of operations, working closely with HSE and the SAIPEM Corporate Legal Department on activities involving critical or particularly sensitive compliance issues concerning laws, regulations, and technical standards. This also includes diving operations related to international projects, with particular reference to their complexity and critical aspects.
She is also responsible for institutional relations with governmental, ministerial, and military authorities at both central and local levels. She supports projects through her specialist expertise in the sectors requiring such competencies and provides legal advisory services for operational activities.
Since October 2025, she has also served as an advisor to the SONSUB Division on highly complex engineering and execution projects within the framework of the National Underwater Hub (PNS – Polo Nazionale della Subacquea).
From November 1988 to 30 September 2022, she served as an Executive Officer/General of the Italian State Police, holding several senior leadership positions, including Commander of the Italian National Police Diving Units. In this capacity, she received specialist training from the Italian Navy (COMSUBIN) as Diving Unit Commander and in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) in the underwater environment.
She was also in charge of the diving operations following the sinking of the Costa Concordia in January 2012, leading all diving forces deployed at Giglio Island.
She has authored several books on legislation and regulations concerning professional and recreational diving and has participated as a legal expert and advisor in the drafting of new legislative proposals and was enchagerd as legal technical consultant during several trials in Italy.
On 1 December 2025, she was awarded an Honorary Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Diving Safety Management by the Maltese higher education institution ITS, where she has served as an adjunct lecturer since 2021, teaching European laws and regulations governing professional diving activities. She also serves as an Advisor to the Board of Lecturers of the same institution.
Luisa is also a CCR Instructor and continues to actively engage in diving activities.
Titile: "Compliance certifications for diving equipment: obligations and guarantees for professionals and customers".
The certification of diving equipment has recently become a central topic in both legal discussions and the diving industry.
As diving equipment continues to evolve—particularly equipment designed for technical recreational diving, where divers are exposed to additional risks beyond those associated with conventional recreational diving—the issue of CE certification and compliance with European standards has attracted increasing attention from both diving professionals and recreational divers.
This is also because European Directives and national regulations prohibit the marketing, sale, or transfer of equipment intended to protect against respiratory hazards, exposure to the surrounding environment, or equipment that serves as life-support equipment unless it has been tested according to rigorous standards that ensure its safety, functionality, and operational reliability.
The subject is even more significant in light of the potential criminal liability of manufacturers, importers, distributors, and anyone placing non-certified equipment on the market within the European Union or allowing others to use such equipment. Additional legal obligations apply to diving professionals, who must not only use compliant equipment but also ensure that all life-support equipment meets the requirements of the European Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulation and applicable national legislation.
Virtually all equipment commonly used in diving activities must comply with specific manufacturing standards and obtain the appropriate conformity certification.
The presentation will also examine several court cases in which the absence of proper equipment certification—including equipment used solely for demonstration purposes—played a significant role, highlighting the criminal consequences for both individuals and companies involved.