October 20 Ship Rizzo entered the dock in the port of La Spezia.
The entry into the basin represents the last chapter of an activity started 83 days earlier. After the designation which flagship of the European anti-piracy operation in the Horn of Africa "Atalanta", the ship's crew was subjected to 2 swabs and a period of isolation on board of 14 days. This protocol guaranteed the achievement of the condition of "COVID free" in line with the anti-Covid19 directives in force.
Returning to Italy on 13 October last, she conducted the dock entry maneuver which lasted just over 24 hours and developed in two delicate phases: the first relating to entering the dock, and the second, which ended the following day , aimed at emptying and precision positioning on the notches.
This operation represents a particularly delicate moment and requires the utmost concentration both for the crew, intent on maneuvering the unit in confined spaces, and for the diving personnel who carry out underwater activities to center the ship on structures built on the seabed allowing it to be put out of the water. , also in consideration of the particular lines of hulls of the new ships that require significant changes and adjustments to the preparatory activities for entry.
Underwater operations during the drying of a naval unit represent, in fact, a centenary tradition that the divers of the Navy have handed down: from heavy copper diving suits with manual pressure air supply systems, we have passed to the most modern and comfortable lightweight helmets, equipped with communication and video systems, but now as then the hard diving work and professionalism are unique.
It is precisely in the water with poor visibility and under the "weight" of a ship that slowly rests on the bottom, that the divers of the COMSUBIN Underwater Operating Group, arrange, rebuild and center, the structures and the "taccate", which will support the 'Unity at the moment of final laying and controlled grounding.
The ship, aground on its solid oak bed, is now ready to be maintained both in its structural entirety and in one of the most important parts: "the living work".
