Yesterday, 23 October, the frigate in the Gulf of Guinea Martinengo of the Navy intervened to rescue the merchant Errine flying the Panamanian flag that had suffered an attack by pirates. The "Federico Martinengo" frigate, engaged in surveillance activities in that sea, acted following an alarm signal.
The Italian military ship was on patrol off the coast of Nigeria at a great distance from the location of the attack on the merchant. The Martinengo arrived in the area he managed to make radio contact with the commander of the merchant who informed that he had been boarded by a small fast boat with armed men on board who had plundered the ship and damaged the radio equipment, then abandoning the ship. The commander himself informed that his crew was in good condition and did not need assistance being able to resume navigation to the port.
The frigate of the Navy warned the shipping company of the ship, which had been without news for many hours due to the damage to the radio equipment suffered during the boarding, which thanked the Italian military ship for the assistance provided.
Ship Martinengo he continued to monitor the area ensuring, with his presence, an effective deterrent effect to safeguard the merchant ships in the area.
The activity of Ship Martinengo in the Gulf of Guinea, one of the world's maritime areas that has become one of the most dangerous, has as its objective the surveillance to protect national interests and the safety of maritime routes, in order to ensure the free use of the sea by national and international merchant ships present , but also to cooperate with the navies of the coastal countries in order to increase mutual knowledge and trust, as well as the capacity for cooperation to contribute to the improvement of security conditions in the region.
