Italy participated with the Cassiopea offshore patrol boat under the command of vessel lieutenant Michele Franceschino.
The international exercise, conducted in the waters north of the Island of Elba, is the result of the Ramoge agreement (signed in the 1976 between Italy, France and the Principality of Monaco), it represents a tangible sign of cooperation between the governments that signed the agreement in the integrated management of the Mediterranean coast for the fight against accidental pollution and the improvement of intervention techniques also in the field of search and rescue.
The activity at sea took place in the days 16 and 17 September in a scenario of oil pollution spilled into the sea following a collision, near the coast, between two merchant ships. A realistic situation that has led the forces in the field to take action to stem pollution and avoid an environmental disaster. This is the phase in which the intervention techniques were developed and perfected.
Nave Cassiopea belongs to the patrol forces for surveillance and coastal defense (COMFORPAT) of Augusta, which includes the 6 patrollers with anti-pollution capabilities available to the navy, all equipped with containment means (pneumatic breakdowns), mechanical recovery (Skimmer Discoil) and stowage of pollutants (for a capacity of 500 cubic meters), as well as rods for the use of dispersing liquids and a laboratory for chemical-physical analysis of pollutants.
The navy with these patrollers plays its important role in the national system to combat oil pollution, to safeguard the coasts and the marine environment, together with all the departments and agencies involved in this important activity. The recent involvement of the Cassiopea patrolman, in the anti-pollution safety frame during the “parbukling” activities of the Costa Concordia on the Island of Giglio.
Source: Military Navy
