"Sailor for a day ... sailor forever": is the message I received when, via email, I received the confirmation that my journalistic activity was temporarily embarked on board a ship Euro has been authorized.
"Hope for the better and prepare for the worst": a recurring thought during the days before departure. It vanished as soon as I reached the "Euro" frigate in the port of Salalah, in Oman.
I walk the catwalk very quickly and I am welcomed by the stv Alessandro Boggio Tomasaz, chief wealth management and official newspaper justice and discipline. Despite the weight of my suitcase, smiling, he accompanies me to the commander cf Giuseppe Massimiliano Aletta who, after getting off the bridge, welcomes me to the officers' saloon with a tasty coffee.
I'm "embedded" in an anti-piracy mission.
Ship Euro since last 25 March 2016 it has been operating off the coast of the Horn of Africa. It is inserted in the Task Force 465 of the operation Atalanta, the first European "naval" mission named EUNAVFOR Somalia.
The "European Naval Force" is to be placed in the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), decided by a joint action of the 19 September 2008 Council (2008 / 749 / CFSP) adopted under the terms of Title V of the EU Treaty.
It will be there Joint Action 2008 / 851 / PESC to give life to this naval anti-piracy naval operation, with European leadership, with the adhesion of the member states of the same EU.
The mission's mandate provides "first and foremost" to protect and escort WFP (World Food Program) ships that distribute humanitarian aid to displaced Somalis. Protect other ships for AMISOM if necessary (African Union Mission to Somalia). Supervise areas off the coast of Somalia, including territorial and inland waters, which are at risk for the safety of maritime navigation. Take the necessary measures, including the use of force, to prevent and end pirate attacks and the "armed robbery". Arrest, hold pirates in custody for their transfer to an appropriate court. Monitor fishing activities off the Somali coast. Keep in contact with States and other Naval Forces operating in the Region to protect the "vulnerable" ship that passes along the Somali coasts, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
For those who do not remember the 30 September 2015, ship Euro has "escorted" towards disarmament, ship Grenadier, the first Italian naval unit located, in the 2005, in the waters of the Gulf of Aden to protect national ships at the request of Italian shipowners. A significant coincidence that underlines the continuous and constant commitment of the Navy since the piracy phenomenon has "infested" the waters facing the Somali coasts by stifling the freedom of international maritime trade.
Somalia after the fall of Siad Barre's government was devastated by an anarchy that took the breath away even from the transitional government restored in 2007 which fails to guarantee the surveillance of sea routes along its coasts.
The problem has been posed of entering the Somali territorial waters by foreign warships in anti-piracy function and for escorting the WFP ships. According to international law one can enter territorial waters only with the consent of the Coastal State, valid consent only if the government is effective. With the resolutions adopted by the UN, the lack of effectiveness of the TFG (Transitional Federal Government), and in particular with the 1814 and the 1851.
The frigate Euro is part of the military vessels device managed by the IRTC (International Recommended Transit Corridor) coordinator, a task assigned in turn to the commanders of the EU, NATO and CMF naval forces (Combined Maritime Forces).
The IRTC is a real traffic corridor where surveillance and protection are guaranteed to the merchant ships that pass through it.
Port of Salalah, Oman
During the two-day stop, during the morning, part of the ship's crew Euro, in addition to carrying out the normal guard duty, food, cleaning material and oil for vehicle maintenance is also engaged in loading.
On the return from the franchise and after the various canteens, including the guard and the general one, in the late evening, before unmounting from the port, a "pre-navigation" general assembly is announced on the flight deck.
The second commander presents the commander, cf Giuseppe Massimiliano Aletta, to the neatly deployed crew: the officers on his left, in front of the specialist departments, including the GOS, the men of the marine brigade Saint Mark, the air component of the Navy, the sergeants and to its right the troop.
The commander, with a resolute and affable air, informs the crew of the activities foreseen by the "Focused Operation Aether 11 " which will bring ship Euro towards the northern region of Somalia, or Puntland.
Once the lines have been dissolved, each member of the crew moves to his own positions. Necessarily before this navigation period, a dashboard was set up maneuver briefing, in which the commander Aletta described how to carry out the unmooring maneuver from the port of Salalah to the heads of the various sections of the naval unit: to the head of operations service, to the chief engineer and chief of ship system service, to the officer on duty on the bridge , the “navigator” officer or the TLC officer or navigator, the boatswain as head of the bow section, the head of the weapons department as aft section and finally the head of the sonar department as a section of the centers.
At the end of briefing, waiting for the "pilot" of the port of Salalah to assist Commander Aletta - who remains the only "owner" and responsible for the unmooring of the unit from the quay - is announced to all the crew, via ROC ("Rete Collective Orders ", the loudspeakers):" prepare to assume the maneuver role ".
The second commander coordinates the various sections of the unit via radio, to better prepare it for unmooring. On the bridge, all the members of the maneuvering role section are in position, from the helmsman to the TLC manager. Just as they are ready in COC (Combat Operations Center), in the radio room, in COP (Propulsion Operations Center) and security teams at the bow and stern.
At the bow and stern all the tactical unmooring operations are coordinated by the boatswain who assists the pilots.
The crane is positioned on the quay to move the "staircase" - which is nothing more than the gangway supplied to the ship - from the port of Salalah.
The tugs are positioned to safely "steer" the ship Euro out of “restricted” waters, given the presence of both the wind and a “dhow” (traditional Arab sailing boat) towards the stern.
At the 00.30 the port pilot arrives on board. While the crane removes it gangway, the commander receives him on the bridge. The time for a quick greeting is taken towards the bridge wing, where information is exchanged on the maneuver to be carried out, in a concise English. Once the maneuver has been agreed, at the same time, the various sections of the bow, stern and centers declare themselves ready for unmooring. The COP communicates "ready machines", ie the go-ahead of the engines running.
Via ROC, a “take on the maneuver role” is communicated. Commander Aletta begins with the first command on the bridge: “everyone, we're about to unmoor”. The operations chief repeats the command via radio to all sections.
The commander communicates: "bow and stern spring and returns". The command from the operations manager is repeated, once again, by radio to all sections.
A succession of quick and precise commands. Each movement of the unit at sea is for me almost imperceptible, located on the dashboard fin.
The moorers drop the cables from the bollards, while the personnel in charge of the stern and bow section of the unit, that is the nocchieri at the bow and the staff of the arms department at the stern, recover all the tops of the ship.
While the commander, on the right wing of the bridge, continues to give the commands to the section on the bridge and to agree with the pilot every opportune maneuver, ship Euro with the help of the tugs, he leaves the dock of the port.
In short, near the exit channel of the port of Salalah, the pilot boat is approached to pick up the pilot who carefully descends from the "biscaglina" of the ship, to return to port.
Ship Euro pass the harbor exit with the bright red buoy on the starboard side and the green buoy on the left. The operators of the maneuvering section, outside the port exit channel, tidy up the maneuvering area and re-enter the unit.
I was alone for a few minutes on the bridge wing thinking of Mark Twain: when he said that "going by sea is like being in prison with the risk of drowning". I strongly wanted to be on board a ship Euro, on a mission Atalanta. In the coming days he will see her engaged in many activities of the Focused Operation Aether 11: from the information gathering operation on pirate groups still active along the coast, to the asymmetric threat defense exercise, to the mere escort of a World Food Program merchant in the IRTC (Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor), gods friendly approach and above all there will be the visit of the commander of the TF465, the Dutch commodore René Luyckx, who will meet Commander Aletta and his crew. Men and women who, tirelessly, far from their families, contribute to guaranteeing the safety of the seas and merchant traffic, committing themselves to the development and growth of the communities visited during the stops, with CIMIC activities (Civil-Military Cooperation).
Somehow I will be part of the crew of this ship for a long time. I love the sea and being on a mission Atalanta it is a unique and unrepeatable occasion. I hope I have the wisdom to live it to the fullest. I think sometimes the best choice is accept the suggestion to try to see "up close" what happens.
Being able to live and "observe" the life behind the scenes of a ship of the Italian Navy is a great privilege, because true sailors never back down when there is a task to be completed.
(Continued)
