November 14 Ship Antaeus and personnel of the Underwater Operating Group (GOS) of the Underwater Command and Incursors (COMSUBIN) of the Navy, with the collaboration of the staff of the DGISSEG (General Directorate for Infrastructure and Safety of Energy and Geomineral Systems of the Ministry of Economic Development) and Edison E&P company, have been engaged off the coast of southern Sicily in reconnaissance activities of the seabed and underwater infrastructures of the "Vega" off-shore field, located south of Pozzallo (RG) as part of the environmental controls carried out by DGISSEG.
Ship Antaeus employed divers and ROV underwater vehicles (remotely operated vehicle) to inspect and collect sampling material on the seabed at the "Vega" platform.
"Vega" is the largest fixed offshore oil platform built in Italy and is located about 12 miles south of the southern coast of Sicily. It includes a platform for the exploitation of the oil field and a 110.000-ton floating deposit. The platform was supported in February 1987, on a depth of about 122 meters of water depth.
Also present during the activity was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy, team admiral Aurelio De Carolis co-signatory together with the director of the DGISSEG, engineer Gilberto Dialuce, of the collaboration agreement that frames the activity carried out.
The agreement, signed on 14 September last, is aimed at consolidating the synergies already in place between the two organizations in the context of their respective institutional tasks and includes, among other things, the supervision and control of the systems used for research, cultivation and transport of hydrocarbons and energy resources at sea.
The collaboration between the Navy and the DGISSEG-MiSE represents a precious opportunity that allows to optimize the use of their resources in the common interest of the country, also providing the scientific community with updated data on the marine areas of greatest interest, with the objective of protecting the safety of the marine environment and more generally national interests at sea and in the sea. These include the security of trade and energy flows, in an international context characterized by growing risk factors for the collective security of the country on a geopolitical, economic-financial, environmental and technological level.
In summary, it is the application of the concept of "commitment to the community" which is achieved thanks to the intrinsic operational flexibility of the Navy and on the basis of specific collaboration agreements with other departments, bodies, institutes and organizations.
