On June 16, 2020, representatives of the Navy and ASSARMATORI gathered at the headquarters of the Marine General Staff, on the Lungotevere delle Navi in Rome, for an important moment of discussion and coordination on current issues and of common interest regarding the protection of national interests in the maritime domain and in the geopolitical scenario of the enlarged Mediterranean. The meeting - opened by the greeting from Mr. chief of staff of the Navy, team admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, in the presence of the president of ASSARMATORI, Dr. Stefano Messina - is part of the institutional and collaborative relationships between the Navy and the national Maritime Cluster, which sees the involvement detail of the general command of the Port Authority Corps - Coast Guard and of the command in chief of the naval team.
Given the importance of maritimeity for the economic growth and prosperity of the country, the meeting opportunity allowed to further develop collaboration in a strategic sector - the maritime domain - in which the Armed Force is institutionally responsible for operating, guaranteeing the surveillance and security of communication routes to protect national interests in support of the country system as a decisive contribution of the maritime cluster.
On the aforementioned occasion, the representatives of the 3rd department Planning and Maritime Policy of the General Staff have provided an overview on the commitments of the Armed Force for 2020 with a focus on the aspects of maritime security declined in its three meanings or Maritime Security Operations, Maritime Situational Awareness e Maritime Capacity Building. In this regard, the issue of maritime piracy andarmed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea and in the Indian Ocean, the competition of the Armed Force for training activities for the security guards responsible for carrying out the anti-piracy services on board the national merchant ships that transit in areas subject to piracy risk.
On the basis of the concept that economic well-being and peace depend on the free use of the sea and an adequate level of safety of the maritime routes, the role of the national cell of Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping (NCAGS) of the Naval Squad Command-in-Chief (CINCNAV). The aforementioned Command, in the context of its peculiar interface function between the military organization and the merchant community, is a Maritime Security, aimed at fostering cooperation and exchange of information between the Navy and national shipping, in order to increase the level of knowledge and awareness of the maritime scenario, an indispensable element to ensure the primary need to defend the freedoms of the seas.
Finally, by the general command of the Port Authority Corps - Coast Guard, the complex and delicate dynamics of the operations of Search and Rescue related to migratory flows in the central Mediterranean, paying particular attention to the level of responsibilities and regulatory obligations concerning the captains of the national shipping.
Lastly, the meaning of the collaboration in question is once again witness to the exemplification of the Country System Concept, of which the Navy and the Maritime Cluster are mutually protagonists and witnesses.
