The sheet metal cutting ceremony of the new Major Hydro-Oceanographic Ship (N.I.O.M.) of the Navy, intended for the conduct of scientific mapping and monitoring activities, as well as in support of the initiatives of the Hydrographic Institute, was held today in the Riva Trigoso factory.
Present at the event, among others, were the general director of Fincantieri's Military Ships Division Dario Deste, the director of the Navy Hydrographic Institute, rear admiral Massimiliano Nannini, and the director of Naval Armaments, Chief Inspector Admiral Giuseppe Abbamonte.
Delivery is scheduled for 2026 at the integrated Riva Trigoso-Muggiano shipyard.
The renewal program of the naval units of the Navy's hydrographic service is part of an innovative project, of European scope, which involves the Ministry of Defense and within which a financing agreement was reached between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
The unit was designed with the utmost attention to green aspects. Its main characteristics include technologies for limiting emissions, diesel-electric propulsion to optimize consumption, functional hull shapes to reduce resistance to progress and the use of materials environment-friendly. In the field of sustainability, the production process also participates in the company's constant commitment to monitoring environmental management systems, as demonstrated by the compliance with the international ISO 14001 standard of all the Group's Italian sites.
The conception of the N.I.O.M. and its multiple scientific capabilities qualify it as a means of direct support of the UN's sustainable development objectives at sea.
Further key drivers of the ship will be the theme of Health&Safety, aimed at the safety of all personnel who will operate the ship during its operational life. Fincantieri has taken a proactive approach aimed at identifying, also in cooperation with a fleet of first-level suppliers, the best technical solutions to fully satisfy the customer's operational requirements.
Fincantieri delivered in 2018 toInstitute of Marine Research (IMR), the oceanographic and fisheries research organization of the Norwegian government, “Kronprins Haakon”, an oceanographic icebreaker intended to operate in polar waters.
Furthermore, in 2021 the Group curated a refit exceptional on the “Laura Bassi” unit, the only Italian oceanographic research icebreaker, owned by the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics.
The Navy Hydrographic Institute is the state cartographic body designated for the production of official national nautical documentation.
