On the evening of August 19, the ship Etna of the Navy, as ordered by Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini, sailed from Brindisi to Beirut to deliver humanitarian aid to the Lebanese population. Arrival is expected on the 24th.
The elongation in the eastern Mediterranean takes place as part of an educational campaign that the ship is conducting in favor of 78 students of the 1st course of the Officers' School of Taranto.
The initiative stems from the ten-year cooperation with the Francesca Rava Foundation - NPH Italia ONLUS, when a devastating earthquake struck Haiti and the NPH Saint Damien pediatric hospital, built and supported by the Francesca Rava Foundation, was the only one operating on the island for days. , becoming the center of international relief and advanced base of the military vehicles that arrived aboard the Cavour ship.
The Francesca Rava ONLUS Foundation, following the explosion in Beirut, sent the first aid, supporting the aid of the local partner. He then accepted the request for help from the Saint George hospital, one of the 3 main hospitals in the city and seriously damaged, helping the same with the donation of electromedical equipment, including two ultrasound scanners donated by General Electric Healthcare, health material such as masks and gowns for staff; the load includes food and other material useful for the affected population.
The mission is a further example of the flexibility, versatility and projectability, typical of ships and personnel on board and common to the various specialized components of the Navy: naval, underwater, air, hydrographic, amphibious and special forces. A multidimensional and multidisciplinary set of forces, which makes it possible to respond to the needs of the country, integrating jointly and in full synergy with other departments and with governmental and non-governmental agencies.
Ship Etna, under the command of the captain of vessel Giovanni Cazzato, is a logistic support unit, for the supply at sea of the ships of the naval team, with high capabilities also in the field of command and control, equipped with 1 SH-101 helicopter with 14 soldiers between flight crew and technicians as well as with transport capacity in biocontainment thanks to a stretcher for ISOARK N36.
