The Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Service is meant to support all vessels sailing off the Italian waters or mooring at major sea ports. According to a 1911 law, in charge of the service is the Italian Navy. The Service makes use of military and civilian personnel, ships and vehicles to provide the necessary technical/logistic support to all signalling. Its powers, duties, hierarchical structure, and service organization were determined by a 1910 set of regulations.

The Inspectorate for Lighthouses Logistic Support, based in Rome, is in charge of studying, planning and supervising all technical and logistic activities. Moreover, it represents the national Authority relevant to maritime signalling and the International Organization for Maritime Signalling.

The Lighthouses Technical Office is based in La Spezia, it works directly under the Inspectorate to carry out its technical and logistic assignments, which encompass the whole national network of maritime signalling and assistance to navigation. It carries out studies, researches, experiments on the materials and technologies to be used for maritime signalling. It is equipped with a factory and workshops, and is in charge of maintenance up to the third level.

The Lighthouses Area Commands are based in La Spezia, Venice, Taranto (this latter has a special branch in Naples), La Maddalena island, and Messina. These bodies work directly under their respective Independent Maritime Military Commands (Cagliari and Augusta) to ensure operational efficiency in signalling within their territory. Moreover, the Lighthouses Area Commands are in the employ of the Inspectorate for technical issues and logistics. They are equipped with a factory and a warehouse for maintenance and repair works up to the second level. The Regencies of Maritime Signalling are directly under the Lighthouses Area Commands which represent the local operation bodies of the Lighthouses Service Office created ad hoc to cover the whole of the Italian coasts.

The Italian network of maritime signallings stretches along the coasts of our peninsula, major seaports and islands, totaling 824 navigation supports, which include 157 lighthouses and 667 lights (including seamarks and buoys). The Lighthouses Service Office is also in charge of advising Private and Public Agencies, as well as minor signalling managers, about the specific features required for the signalling. A list of all maritime signallings, whether managed by the Lighthouses Service Office or other, is published and constantly updated by the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute.

Starting from mid ‘80s both the Lighthouses Service Office and the Maritime Signalling underwent a thorough renovation to guarantee maximum reliability, quality and efficiency, thanks to state-of-the-art machineries and plants, technologically advanced and totally automatized.