The normal annual cycle of the Amerigo Vespucci training ship is punctuated by a winter stop, with the ordinary maintenance necessary to prepare the ship for educational campaigns, during which the ship carries out a range of activities ranging from training to image and promotion. The central moment of Vespucci's life is the education campaign, when the students of the Naval Academy of Livorno embark, after completing the first year of studies.
Every twenty years or so the ship faces extraordinary maintenance work, much more demanding and time consuming, which involves the interruption of the campaigns.
In the life of Vespucci, only four extraordinary work stops were carried out, lasting more than 12 months:
in 1940 - mainly for war reasons;
in 1964 - with the installation of the new engine, landed during the current break, after 50 years of excellent service;
in 1973 - with a general reconditioning of living spaces and furnishings, mainly those of the crew;
in 1997 - a massive intervention on the main deck, with the replacement of the entire teak roof - brought directly from Burma.
Two other stops, for major works but lasting less than 12 months, took place:
in 1984 - with the modernization of numerous plants and the installation of the new conditioning system;
in 2005 - with a substantial intervention on the hull, the replacement of over 30 courses of planking and the replacement of the trunk of the Trinchetto mast.
If these activities, albeit huge, have always been sectoral and in any case limited. The current stop was truly exceptional, the only intervention of this magnitude, never occurred in the past, which saw work simultaneously on the engine, on the living rooms, the hull, the deck, the mast. The general layout of the interior rooms has also been modernized, adapting it to the new needs.
Having now completed the major modernization works, which began in October 2013, the Amerigo Vespucci, the timeless sailing ship of the Navy, is ready to return to sea for a new campaign, at the venerable age of 85. The ship, in fact, was launched on February 22, 1931, in Castellammare di Stabia and is the oldest unit of the Navy in service. She survived the risk of being sold as war booty at the end of the Second World War, a fate into which her twin Cristoforo Colombo unfortunately fell; the Amerigo Vespucci is reborn after more than two years of work in the La Spezia Arsenal.
Many and innovative improvements were made to the ship during the stop, such as the complete replacement of the propulsion and energy generation apparatus, the electrical system, the shaft line and the wheelhouse, the living rooms, with a expansion of the accommodation capacity, the hull, the deck, the masts, as well as the implementation of a new general layout, aimed at optimizing the intended use of the various rooms on board.
Now on the horizon are the numerous commitments and goals to be achieved for the Queen of the seas. First of all, the training of the personnel, the training of the students of the Naval Academy of Livorno and the Morosini Naval School of Venice. On board will also be held with courses in navigation and seafaring art and education at the sea of the community.
Nave Vespucci, which has always been a witness abroad of Italian excellence, will also play an important role in expressing the so-called naval diplomacy, helping to affirm the image of our country abroad. Collaborations with universities of the sea and marine technologies will be increasingly lively, maintaining that ethically valuable role of UNICEF ambassador, in support of WWF in the protection and eco-sustainability of the environment.
Starting this year, Vespucci will also carry the "Olympic Games in Rome in 2024" initiative.
The queen of the seas will set sail in a few hours for the first part of the Campaign, circumnavigating Italy and touching the major national ports with the students of the Francesco Morosini Naval School of Venice on board.
Then the education campaign abroad will follow, with the students of the Naval Academy of Livorno on board, to begin and persevere, as the ship's motto says, in the most exciting and unforgettable experience of their life, to sail aboard the ship. most beautiful in the world, restored to its maximum splendor.
Follow the Amerigo Vespucci on the Navy's website and social networks, # Vespucci85
