The crew of the second Thaon di Revel-class PPA will call in fifteen ports of fourteen countries across the area up to Japan and South Korea to promote freedom of navigation and the respect of international law of the sea alongside the conduction of naval diplomacy and maritime security missions. The Italian Navy vessel will also participate in Operations Atalanta and Agenor, the later under the European-led Maritime Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz (EMASoH).
The departure of Francesco Morosini and its crew headed by commander Giovanni Monno was greeted with a sober ceremony by the Undersecretary of State for Defence Matteo Perego di Cremnago and the ITN Chief of the Fleet (CINCNAV) admiral Aurelio De Carolis, together with local military, civil authorities, industrial representatives and personnel families.
“I am here today,” said the Undersecretary in his greeting address to the crew, “to express the gratitude of the whole nation for the effort you have made in this period to allow Morosini vessel to be found ready and able to take to the sea to bring our Tricolour to proudly wave in distant seas”. “Men and women of Morosini ship,” concluded the Undersecretary, “you represent a concrete testimony of the national commitment in a region, South-East Asia, which represents an environment of growing international attention, so I wish you all a good wind…”
“The Morosini campaign in the Far East is an important mission for a series of ‘first’ events: in addition to being the first operational mission assigned to the ship and its crew, it is the first time Morosini will operate out of the Mediterranean basin and for the crew to demonstrated the acquired capabilities during the training phase. It will be also the first moment to test the platform efficiency in a long-distance deployment from the Italian waters”, said admiral De Carolis.
“On parallel, this campaign will allow to show, in important international contests, the high content of technological innovations of this modern class of ship which has been developed by the Italian defence industry, after the deployment of the First-of-Class Paolo Thaon di Revel PPA in the Indian Ocean in 2022, the twin ship of the Morosini, also in its first operational mission after being declared ready for service.”
Admiral Aurelio De Carolis, ITN Chief of the Fleet (CINCNAV)
This without forgetting the importance of interoperability and promotion of relationships with local Naval Forces, and the personal alongside professional experience which the crew will gain during the deployment, he explained.
The vessel will call in Djibouti, participating in the waters of the Africa Horn to the anti-piracy Operation Atalanta and in the North Arabian Sea and Persian/Arabic Gulf to the Operation Agenor. The Morisini will pay visit in Singapore where it will participate to the IMDEX 2023 defence exhibition (3-5 May), supporting the Italian shipbuilding and naval defence industry.
The Italian ship will then call in South-East Asia area, visiting Ho Chi Min (Vietnam), Bangkok (Thailand), Langkawi (Malaysia), where Morosini will take part to the LIMA 2023 defence exhibition (23-27 May) and Makassar (Indonesia). Here the Italian Navy ship will join the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK) 2023 held by the Indonesian Navy, in the nearby waters, “among other opportunities of joint activities with local Naval Forces through the campaign”, highlighted admiral De Carolis.
After a long sail, Morosini will reach Yokosuka – Tokyo (Japan) and Pusan (South Korea), the most distant destinations touched during the campaign, before returning toward west, calling in Manila (Philippines), Jakarta (Indonesia), Chittagong (Bangladesh), Mumbai (India), Muscat (Oman), Karachi (Pakistan) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). The ship will return back to La Spezia in early September, according to current plans.
The Francesco Morosini is the second ship of the class and the second platform in the PPA Light configuration. “The ship is equipped with the most advanced combat and weapon along platform systems developed by Italian industry in service with the Marina Militare,” added admiral De Carolis.
The Morosini won’t be the only Italian Navy ship which will sail in the waters of the Far East in 2023. The Amerigo Vespucci training ship will also transit this maritime region during her sailing campaign around the world which will last from next July to February 2025, promoting the ‘country system’ around the globe.
Looking to the potential campaign in the same area of an Italian Navy’s Carrier Group centred on the Cavour STOVL carrier, “for the moment, it is not under planning”, admiral De Carolis answered to a specific media question.
The Morosini is on its first operational deployment since its delivery to the Italian Navy by Fincantieri through OCCAR agency on 22 October 2022 and assignment to the 1st Naval Division of the Italian Navy based in La Spezia. Construction and fitting-out was conducted under the ITN New Shipbuilding and Outfitting Centre (MARINALLES) and the Italian MoD Naval Armament Directorate (NAVARM) New Ship Construction Office (UTNAV) survey.
The crew then completed the ‘preliminary training’ in parallel with onboard system acceptance trails under the support and training certification of the 1st Naval Division, under the helm of admiral Stefano Frumento.
The crew of Morosini PPA subsequently conducted the so-called ‘elementary training’ finalized to prepare and certify the crew ‘ready for operations’, under the guide and supervision of the Italian Navy naval-air training centre (MARICENTADD) in Taranto, between 24 January and 3 March of this year.
In addition to the crew, the Morosini PPA embarks for the Far East deployment a flight detachment with one NHIndustries SH-90A helicopter, a team of the GOS (Gruppo Operativo Subacquei) divers/EOD group of the COMSUBIN Command and a detachment of the San Marco (amphibious) Brigade for security and boarding activities.
