On Tuesday 20 February, the European Multi Mission Frigate (FREMM) Carlo Margottini set sail from the port of La Spezia for a campaign that will see it engaged in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the adjacent Gulf and take part in the European anti-piracy operation Atalanta.
During the campaign Nave Margottini will stop in Karachi (Pakistan), will participate in the Doha International Maritime Defense Exhibition & Conference (DIMDEX 18) in Qatar and will make some visits to the ports of Kuwait City (Kuwait), Damman (Saudi Arabia) and the United Arab Emirates before arriving in Djibouti in April to take command of Operation Atalanta.
The deployment of FREMM Margottini, in addition to guaranteeing the presence and surveillance for the protection of maritime traffic lines of national interest, is part of the activities that the Navy conducts with allied and friendly nations in the sector of multinational cooperation and dialogue between countries. At the same time, this activity makes it possible to guarantee a qualified presence in foreign countries with which Italy has important political-diplomatic, economic and military cooperation relations.
The campaign that has just started is also an important opportunity to promote the “Italian System” in an integrated way, supporting and supporting the activities of the great representatives of the national industry.
The participation in DIMDEX 2018 is part of this framework: an event of great importance in the field of technologies and industrial capabilities for defense in the maritime sector. This is an event that has reached its 6th edition in its 10 years of life. Alongside purely commercial activities, DIMDEX is also an opportunity to establish and consolidate contacts with the marines that face the same threats, risks and challenges at sea every day: illicit trafficking, piracy, illegal exploitation of marine resources.
The Middle East deployment of Nave Margottini will be completed with the participation in the Atalanta operation which, since 2008, on the decision of the European Council, has been carrying out activities to combat maritime piracy in the Horn of Africa where, even today, it continues to pose a threat to the freedom of navigation of merchant traffic and, in particular, to the transport of humanitarian aid from the World Food Program.
Further Reading:
The frigate Carlo Margottini is commanded by the frigate captain Giuseppe Lai, and is a unit of the Italian-French FREMM program (European Multi Mission Frigate). It was launched on 29 June 2013 at the Riva Trigoso shipyard (GE), delivered to the Navy on 27 February 2014 and received the Combat flag on 22 April 2016 in Reggio Calabria.
Distinguished by the F 592 optical badge, according to the NATO classification, it is a new generation frigate characterized by the possibility of use in various operational contexts. It is the third FREMM and the second in the ASW version. With a crew of 168 men and women, almost half that of frigates of other classes, it has a displacement of 6700 tons and reaches 27 knots of speed.
Nave Margottini took part:
- in the 2014, Operation Mare Nostrum ;;
- in February of the 2015 at the anti-submarine exercise Smart Hunt, with the German Navy;
- in June of the 2016 to the activity with the Navy of the United States for the promotion of the Green Fleet;
- in May 2017 at the Open Sea exercise 2017.
Lastly, the ship participated in four missions within the Safe Sea Operation, carrying out maritime presence, surveillance and security tasks and will remain engaged in the Gulf of Aden until the next month of August 2018.