Mariotti shipyard selected for Italy s new submarine rescue, dive support vessel
by Luca Peruzzi
A computer generated imagery of T.Mariotti s Special & Diving Operations - Submarine Rescue Ship that will be built for Italy. (Mariotti Shipyard)
Genoa-based shipyard T.Mariotti has been selected by the Italian Ministry of Defence s (MOD s) naval armaments directorate to build and deliver the Italian Navy s new special and diving operations – submarine rescue ship (SDO-SuRS), and a land-based dual-use hyperbaric centre in La Spezia.
According to a press statement from the company, the contract award is expected by mid-2021. No details have been provided on the contract value, but the MOD s 2020–22 multiyear planning document indicates an allocated budget of EUR424 million for the programme.
This event follows the first sea-going of the
“Al Zubarah” (F 101) multirole corvette in November 2020. The first multirole corvette (with a focus on air defense) is to be delivered in 2021 while the first OPV will follow in 2022 according to Fincantieri. The latter is working hard to mitigate the production slowdown caused by the national lockdown period in the first half of 2020 and the follow-on restrictions due the pandemic.
Musherib was launched by Fincantieri on
For the record, a global order worth 5 billion euros (including 1 billion for missiles) was announced in August 2017. In addition to four Al Zubarah-class air defense corvettes, the contract includes the construction of two OPV/FACM type ships based on the Falaj 2-class (selected by the UAE Navy) and an air defense LPD (fitted with long range radar and ASTER 30 SAM) based on the “BDSL Kalaat Beni Abbes” (143 meters long, 9,000 tonnes displacement), which was delivered in 2015 by Fincantieri to Algeria
Fincantieri delivers Vulcano logistic support ship to Italian Navy
16 March 2021
by Luca Peruzzi
Fincantieri handed over the Italian Navy’s new logistic support ship (LSS),
Vulcano (A 5335), during a ceremony held at its Muggiano shipyard in La Spezia on 12 March.
The LSS was built by Fincantieri under a contract awarded by European defence procurement organisation OCCAR in May 2015 on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Defence.
Vulcano is the first of a class of three ships planned to replace the Italian Navy’s Stromboli-class fleet replenishment oilers under the service’s multiyear fleet renewal programme.
Vulcano
was delivered to the Italian Navy on 12 March.
Fincantieri press release
The ceremony, held in a restricted format and in full compliance with anti-contagion requirements, was attended by Sen. Stefania Pucciarelli, the Italian Undersecretary of Defence representing the Minister Lorenzo Guerini, Adm. Eduardo Serra, Italian Navy Logistic Commander, and Giuseppe Giordo, General manager of the Naval Vessel division of Fincantieri.
Godmother of the ship was Mrs. Anna Maria Pugliese, daughter of Admiral Stefano Pugliese, who was Commander of the light cruiser “Montecuccoli”, which entered into service in 1935 and was uncommissioned from the Italian Navy fleet in 1964.
This vessel, third of seven, will be delivered in 2023 and it is part of the renewal plan of the operational lines of the Italian Navy vessels, approved by the Government and Parliament and started in May 2015 (“Naval Act”) under the aegis of OCCAR (
Italian Navy press release
Departed on February 28 from the base of the US Navy’s Second Fleet in Norfolk, the Cavour ship has started the “hot” phase of the “Ready for Operations” campaign. The first landing of a US Marine Corps F-35B aircraft on the deck of the Navy aircraft carrier represents a fundamental step in the long and complex certification process for the use of the new aircraft.
The completion of the “Sea Trials” phase of sea trials, which will last in the Atlantic Ocean for about four weeks, will allow the flagship of the Naval Team to test the flight deck and verify the impacts with the fifth-generation aircraft in key take-off and landing moments in different trim conditions and in relation to various factors such as winds and the state of the sea, to arrive at the final certification of “Ready for Operations”.