The container ship “Ital Bonus” of the shipping company Italia Marittima SpA, part of the Evergreen group, and the Randa 36 helicopter with the riflemen of the San Marco Marine Brigade on board provided the executive scenario for a law enforcement exercise on the high seas which took place on Monday 22 April in the Strait of Sicily.

 

The Randa 36, an SH-90 helicopter of the Navy, took off from the Pantelleria Operational Detachment of Operation Safe Mediterranean and, once it reached the Sicily Channel, allowed the riflemen of the San Marco Marine Brigade to board the merchant ship of the department, sailing from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge to the Greek port of Piraeus, to carry out, once on board, high seas policing activities aimed at controlling and preventing any illicit activities.

 

The entire exercise took place in collaboration between the Navy, the company Italia Marittima SpA, the crew of the “Ital Bonus” and Assarmatori, in the wake of a collaboration established some time ago and aimed at guaranteeing the security of the communication lines via sea ​​.

“The activities carried out together with the Navy are now constant – comments the President of Assarmatori, Stefano Messina – and these exercises demonstrate the high level achieved in recent years. These operations are of great importance for the protection of people on board ships and goods traveling on risky routes; fundamental are the training of the crews and the role played by the Italian Navy, precious and irreplaceable in the protection of human lives and in the safety of navigation. What is happening in recent months, with the growing geopolitical tensions also involving maritime transport, represents yet another confirmation of the importance of this type of coordinated activity between the Navy and the merchant navy”.