The ShadowBlack Shadow 2019ʼ tutorial has been completed

(To Marina Militare)
02/11/19

Every day ferries and cruise ships flying the Italian flag plow the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, sailing along the countless routes that connect the great ports of our basin. These units, isolated in the Mediterranean Sea, continue to represent, since the event of theAchille Lauro, a sensitive element of national security.

The level of attention has also risen following the attacks in Europe in recent years and, potentially, any one of these ships could turn into the scenario of an attack to the detriment of passengers, undermining the same service that the flag companies render to the our country.

Let us try then to identify ourselves with the passengers who at any moment find themselves victims of an attack: alone, on the high seas, surprised, frightened and without the possibility of reacting.

At night, suddenly, the background noise of the ship, confusion, fear and uncertainty is superimposed on the dull roar of some rapidly approaching helicopters, while black boats, not seen because hidden by the wake of the ferry, they are already silently flanked to the stern side.

In a matter of seconds, teams of hooded men get on board and move agile and fast. Too quick to figure out who they are until they break into the bridge to regain control: "Navy Raiders, raise your hands!"

It is the night between 28 and 29 October 2019, it is the night of the "Black Shadow", a complex exercise carried out to maintain the unique ability of the Navy to conduct Maritime Interdiction operations on the high seas thanks to a combined action of the operators of COMSUBIN and the aeronaval assets of the Naval Squad.

More than 350 sailors were put to the test in this difficult and synergistic activity: the crews of the modern Luigi Rizzo frigate and the aircraft component embarked, the teams of the Incursori Operational Group, the platoons of the marine brigade Saint Mark and an IEDD team of the Underwater Operating Group.

In an extremely realistic scenario, the takeover of the passenger unit "La Superba" of the Grandi Navi Veloci company was simulated by an armed group that, in the various rooms of the ship, had taken numerous hostages, some of which had been victims of booby traps.

So at the 00.05 of the 29 October, between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, from the multi-mission ship Frigate Rizzo the teams of the Raider Operation Group were secretly launched through various assault boats and some EH-101 and SH-90 helicopters.  

Flanking the ship aft of the ship at night, launched at 24 knots (about 45 Km / h!), The raiders went on board with a high-risk maneuver, to then join the other teams released by the helicopter immediately behind the bridge.

The operations, protected by another helicopter that had a sniper on board, continued with the release, through the technique of fast rope (v.articolo), of two platoons Combat Support del San Marco, with multi-role dog-tracking equipment in tow, and an EOD / IEDD team (Explosive Ordnance Disposal / Improvised Explosive Device Disposal) of the Underwater Operative Group for disarming an improvised explosive device that had been applied to a passenger.

At the 04.00 the assault operations ended with the reacquisition of the control of the passenger unit, the release of all the hostages, the detention of the hijackers and the reclamation of all the rooms of the ship.

The availability of the GNV "La Superba" has allowed all the forces involved to confront themselves with a very complex training environment, enabling them to hone their operational skills and calibrate their synergistic action.

The realism of the exercise, the keystone of the entire activity, finally guaranteed the Navy to maintain that high level of operational readiness required by the primary tasks of defending the vital interests of the country.