Suez Canal: the second time for Doria ship

29/07/14

The missile destroyer Andrea Doria has left the Mediterranean waters and crossed the Suez Canal with a South route. The unit crosses the Canal for the second time (the first in 2011) and from the next 6 August it will be the Flag Ship of Admiral Guido Rando, who will lead the 465 Task Force within the Atalanta operation.

Nave Andrea Doria, in command of the captain of ship Gianfranco Annunziata, heads for Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and the next six months will see her as protagonist of the European Union Atalanta operation with the aim of countering the serious phenomenon of piracy and of guaranteeing the freedom of maritime traffic in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

The maritime traffic in the area comes or is largely directed towards the Suez Canal, an artificial artery open since 17 November 1869, vital for the economy of Europe and in particular of the countries bordering the Mediterranean.

In the Canal, along 193,30 km and 225 meters wide, and whose transit of the ships, organized in three trains, lasts on average about 15 hours, only last year they transited well 16.596 ships.

Source: Military Navy