Virtual “alarm” for alleged illegal cargo on board. The simulation and subsequent intervention of the Italian Navy took place last Tuesday, December 17, on the container ship Ital Wit of the Trieste shipping company Italia Marittima, part of the Evergreen group, flying the Italian flag and equipped with a cargo capacity of 2,300 TEU. On this ship, sailing in the eastern Mediterranean, a joint inspection exercise was conducted in collaboration between the Italian Navy, Assarmatori and Italia Marittima itself.
The operation, which is part of a multi-year project aimed at training maritime personnel, was conducted under the aegis of the Command in Chief of the Naval Fleet (CINCNAV), and involved the assets operating within the scope of Operation Safe Mediterranean (OMS). Following the acquisition and sharing of information between the Navy Multidomain Center of Santa Rosa in Rome and the personnel at sea, the frigate Luigi Rizzo was engaged in carrying out an inspection of the container ship in search of a “suspicious” cargo.
Initially, radio contact was established between the Italian frigate and the merchant ship, with the Command of the military unit which, after declaring its intentions, requested the Commander to proceed with the boarding of the inspection teams for a VBSS (Visit, board, search, and sixth) operation. The military then reached the container ship to inspect it and verify the regularity of the documents and the ship’s cargo. At the end of the exercise, the Ital Wit resumed regular navigation.
The objectives of the exercise include verifying the correct exchange of information between the actors involved (ship, company and military and government counterparts) as well as verifying the ability of the container ship’s crew to respond to the Navy’s request for inspection, adopting a collaborative behavior based on standard operating measures and procedures.
“The success of this exercise, like the previous ones, confirms the importance of the collaborative relationship between the Italian Navy, our Association and shipping companies – comments the President of Assarmatori Stefano Messina – A relationship that is now constant and increasingly profitable also and above all with a view to guaranteeing high safety standards for crews and protecting goods and traffic even on potentially risky routes”.
