Italian Navy News

An Italian navy ship shot down a drone fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels and targeting a European cargo, the Italian defense ministry said in a statement on Monday.The drone was intercepted "in the late morning" near the Bab-el-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, the ministry said.It was flying toward the cargo ship and taken down while it was 5 kilometers (3.11 miles) away.

Fincantieri and the Indonesian Ministry of Defense have signed a contract for the supply of two Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessel (PPA) units.The $1.27 billion (€1.18 billion) deal is part of the framework of collaborative relations initiated by the Italian Ministry of Defense.A PPA is a highly flexible ship with an outstanding technological standard. It has the capacity to serve multiple functions, ranging from patrol with sea rescue capacity to Civil Protection operations and first line fighting vessel.The vessels to be supplied by Fincantieri will be 143 meters long overall…

An Italian navy ship shot down a drone flying towards it in the Red Sea on Saturday, the defence ministry said.A ministry statement described the action as self-defence by the Duilio, which is helping protect trade routes from drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia."The drone, with similar characteristics to those already used in previous attacks, was about 6 km (3.73 miles) from the Italian ship, flying towards it," the statement said.Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the Houthi attacks…

Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri held a steel cutting ceremony to mark the start of construction on a new Hydro-Oceanographic Ship (N.I.O.M.) for the Italian Navy.Scheduled for delivery from the integrated shipyard in Riva Trigoso-Muggiano in 2026, the new vessel is intended for mapping and scientific monitoring activities, as well as in support of the initiatives of the Hydrographic Institute, took place today at the Riva Trigoso shipyard.The ship will feature technologies to contain emissions…

As part of the OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) acquisition program of the Italian Navy (MM), Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN), the joint venture owned by Fincantieri and Leonardo with stakes of 51% and 49% respectively, signed with the Directorate of Naval Armaments of the General Secretariat of Defence/DNA, the contract for the construction of three new generation patrol boats, with an option for three more.The value of the contract for the first three boats is $1B, including the related logistic support services. When completed the 2,300-ton vessels will measure 95m long and accommodate 97 crew.

The Italian coastguard launched multiple rescue operations on Friday to save hundreds of migrants packed aboard several boats off the toe of Italy, less than two weeks after at least 73 drowned in a shipwreck."More than 1,000 people are in danger," the coastguard said in a statement.The president of the southern Calabria region, Roberto Occhiuto, said a total of around 1,300 migrants were aboard boats which the European Union's border force Frontex had warned could run into problems.Three…

Kongsberg Maritime will provide a suite of equipment to a newbuild ship dubbed SDO-SuRS (Special and Diving Operations - Submarine Rescue Ship) to be built by the Italian shipyard T.Mariotti for Marina Militare Italiana (The Italian Navy).Central to this order are a pair of Kongsberg Elegance propulsion pods, direct electric permanent magnet motor driven pods matched with a Kongsberg electric power system, including batteries and power management system.According to Kongsberg…

Giampiero Soncini, former officer of the Italian Navy and a retired leader in the maritime IT sector, returns to the helm via his appointment as MD of Oceanly, a new company established in December by Esa Group, following its acquisition from Arribatec of a business unit, formerly of IB srl, which develops and supports "Performance", a software dedicated to the monitoring of ship performance and the control of related emissions.To fuel the growth, Oceanly will have two MDs; alongside Soncini…

Fincantieri’s shipyard in Muggiano on Friday delivered Paolo Thaon di Revel, the first of seven new Multipurpose Offshore Patrol ships (PPA – Pattugliatore Polivalente d’Altura) for the Italian Navy.The 143-meter-long PPAs are built at the Integrated Shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano, with deliveries expected until 2026. They are 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 (Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation sur l’Armement…

The European Union's counter-piracy outfit announced a new Deputy Commander has taken over to lead its maritime security operations off the coast of Somalia.European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia - Operation ATALANTA said RAdm Messina (Italian Navy) handed over the role of Deputy Operation Commander (DCOM) of the EU NAVFOR Somalia to RAdm Slaars (French Navy) during a ceremony presided by Operation Commander, Vice Admiral José M. Núñez Torrente at Operation Headquarters (OHQ) in Rota…

Fincantieri-led consortium Raggruppamento Temporaneo di Impresa (RTI) has won a contract to build a second Logistic Support Ship (LSS) for the Italian Navy, which also includes the option for a third ship.The consortium signed the contract with OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation sur l’Armement) the international organization for joint armament cooperation.The LSS will be fully built at the Castellammare di Stabia shipyard in Italy, with delivery scheduled for 2025. The value of the contract is around  410 million euros ($462,3 million) including the combat system.

Introducing a new class of warship can be fraught with pain, and the first ship is always the hardest – almost always behind schedule and over budget. And trying something new and transformational is even harder.The U.S. Navy knows this from experience. That’s one reason why the Navy is opting for a lower risk design for its next class of guided missile frigates (FFGs).Just about every new class has experienced a rough start. Although the USS Arleigh Burke-class of guided missile destroyers (DDGs) today represent the largest and most successful class of warships…

Fincantieri signed a contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to support the Conceptual Design of the new class of aircraft carriers “CVX” for the Navy of the Republic of Korea (South Korea).The program relating to the first-in-class unit envisages the tender for the Basic Design starting from the second half of 2021, whereas the detail design and construction will begin in the following years.The signing took place between Jung Woo Sung, Vice President Naval & Special Ship Marketing Division of DSME…

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia, for the supply of 6 FREMM class frigates, the modernization and sale of 2 Maestrale class frigates, and the related logistical support. Fincantieri will be the prime contractor for the entire program. The company did not share financial details."The construction of the frigates will ensure significant employment benefits not only for several Italian shipyards of the Group in the next years…

The Italian Navy has taken delivery of the newly built logistics support ship LSS Vulcano from Fincantieri's Naval Integrated shipyard in Muggiano, Italy.The 193-meter LSS Vulcano is part of the FLOTLOG (Flotte Logistique) program, which includes the construction of four LSS destined to the French Navy, by the temporary consortium between Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Naval Group under the Italian-French LSS Program led by OCCAR (Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation). The construction of the forward sections of these ships has been commissioned to Fincantieri…

Italy's Fincantieri will sign as prime contractor a contract worth 1.35 billion euros ($1.64 billion) for the construction of two new-generation submarines for the Italian Navy, the shipbuilder said on Friday.The contract, signed together with OCCAR (the international organization for joint armament cooperation) includes an option for the construction of two additional units, a statement said.The project is part of the new U212NFS (Near Future Submarine) acquisition program of the Italian Navy…

First steel has been cut at Fincantieri's Castellammare di Stabia shipyard for the first of four forward sections for as many Logistic Support Ships (LSS) ordered by Chantiers de l’Atlantique to Fincantieri under the FLOTLOG program (Flotte logistique).The sections will be built at the Castellammare di Stabia shipyard with deliveries scheduled between 2021 and 2027.The FLOTLOG program consists in the construction of four Logistic Support Ships (LSS), destined to the French Navy…

An interview with Ian Sage, director for marine operations, NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation, La Spezia, Italy.NATO’s 3,100-ton, 305-foot research vessel NRV Alliance has been a leading platform for underwater acoustics research to the benefit of NATO navies. The ship operated with a civilian crew under the German flag for many years for the NATO SACLANT Center, later renamed the NATO Undersea Research Center, and now known as the NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation. Now Alliance flies a new flag, and has a broader mission.

Italian Shipbuilding Company Fincantieri has officially launched the "Emilio Bianchi" frigate, the tenth and last FREMM (Multi Mission European Frigates) vessel at the integrated shipyard of Riva Trigoso (Genoa).The ship has been launched with the combat system and platform equipment already installed onboard and fully integrated. She will now be moved to the Fincantieri‘s shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia) where, within next June, sea trials will start to test her performances.The ship will be delivered to the Italian Navy in March 2020, after the completion of the last outfitting activities.The 10 vessels have been commissioned to Fincantieri…

Fincantieri has been awarded an order from Chantiers de l’Atlantique (CdA) for the construction of the forward sections of four vessels based on the Italian “Vulcano” design.The forward sections will be built in Castellammare di Stabia (Naples), as for the “Vulcano” vessel, with deliveries to Chantiers de l’Atlantique scheduled between 2021 and 2027.The contract is part of the FLOTLOG (Flotte logistique) program, which provides for the construction of four Logistic Support Ships…

Italy has yet to approve the sale to Egypt of two warships made by shipbuilder Fincantieri, as the government weighs political considerations and analyses the deal, Italy's foreign minister said on Wednesday.Rumors Rome had approved the sale raised criticism in Italy and members of the government have voiced concerns about Egypt's human rights record, especially after Italian student Giulio Regeni was tortured and murdered in Cairo in 2016.Answering questions during a parliamentary hearing…

Naval automation and navigation systems supplier Seastema said its SEAS-PILOT HCS autopilot system has been certified with the MED/4.16 Type Approval Certificate of Conformity by DNV GL.With this result, Seastema, a Fincantieri company, becomes the only Italian manufacturer, and one of the first worldwide, of a certified autopilot system in conformity with the new European regulation MED (Marine Equipment Directive) 2019/1397, the highest international standard in the marine sector.The…

The restored flagship of former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito is being converted into a hotel and a museum devoted to its turbulent history, from banana boat to meeting place for world statesmen.Berthed in Croatia’s Adriatic port of Rijeka, the Galeb (Seagull) will open to the public in its new role next year.The ship was built in 1938 in Italy to transport bananas from Africa. During World War Two, it was used first by the Italian navy and then by the Germans and it was sunk by Allied planes at the end of the war.In communist Yugoslavia, it was retrieved and converted into a yacht used by Tito for his many journeys across the globe.During that time…