Ship Antonio Marceglia, the most modern unit of the FREMM class (European Multi-Mission FRegate), returned yesterday to the military arsenal of La Spezia after about 4 months of operational activity conducted outside the Mediterranean Sea as part of the "Gabinia" operation. a mission whose main objective is to prevent and combat the phenomenon of piracy.
Nave's business Marceglia it is indicative of the commitment made by the Navy to guarantee the safety and protection of national interests in the most complex international theaters, such as the Gulf of Guinea, the area in the world today most affected by piracy phenomena.
The 171 men and women, including fixed crew on board and specialized components on board (helicopter section, boarding team of the marine brigade Saint Mark and the EOD team of operating group divers of the command of divers and raiders), have been engaged in activities ranging from maritime surveillance, to the performance of the functions of naval diplomacy aimed at consolidating relations between countries, organizations and actors involved in the fight against piracy, national and non-national, in the area, participation in training activities conducted with allied navies and coastal countries with the ultimate aim of increasing mutual knowledge and trust and to contribute to the improvement of security conditions in the region.
Thanks to these numerous interactions it was possible to achieve profitable results in the field of Capacity Building in favor of the local navies. With the participation in the French-led exercise GANO '21, for example, the EU concept of Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP) in the Gulf of Guinea was promoted, with the aim of increasing the interoperability and info-sharing among the European assets deployed in the area, for an increasingly suitable response to the growing security challenges, such as maritime piracy and the kidnapping of seafarers for the purpose of extortion.
The training events turned out to be real boosters for bilateral cooperation, favoring, in fact, the establishment of an extremely effective information flow that allowed the implementation of coordinated actions during real events. For example, in the case of the M / V Plata, thanks to the information collection carried out by the Marceglia ship and the SH-90 helicopter embarked, the Togo Navy proceeded to inspect the vessel and to order its arrest for suspected aiding and abetting of piracy and smuggling. of diesel fuel.
There were also many naval diplomacy activities, and in this context it is worth mentioning that the frigate Marceglia it was the first Italian unit to enter the waters of the port of Libreville (Gabon), where it welcomed on board the ambassador of Italy in Gabon, Gabriele Di Muzio, accompanied by the Minister of Defense of Gabon, Michael Moussa-Adamo.
Before returning to the Mediterranean, the Italian unit also had the opportunity to cooperate with the Moroccan Navy as part of the bilateral exercise ITA-MOR 21.
