Ship Antonio Marceglia, the last FREMM class unit (European Multi-Mission Frigate) of the naval team, on 7-8 March 2022, made a technical / logistic stop at the port of Beirut (Lebanon), as part of an intense activity of presence and surveillance conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean.
During the first day of rest, the Defense Attaché in Beirut - the Italian Army Paratrooper Colonel Marco Zona - visited the unit, accompanied by military attachés from the United States, France, Canada, Romania, the Republic of Korea , Poland and Bulgaria, demonstrating the profound esteem that the allied nations have towards our Navy. The circumstance was propitious to illustrate the great versatility of the FREMM class units, capable of embarking and operating with different specialized assets such as the SH-90 helicopter in its different configurations (Anti-Submarine Warfare with sound buoys and SONAR dipping, or MITT eli -assault), the team boarding of the marine brigade Saint Mark (BMSM) and a team of the Underwater Operational Group (GOS), once again underlining the importance of the support that the Italian Navy can offer to the UNIFIL mission (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), born with Resolution no. 425 and no. 426 of 1978 adopted by the UN Security Council, following the invasion of Lebanon by Israel (March 1978).
The next day, Nave Marceglia had the privilege of hosting on board if the ambassador of Italy to Lebanon Nicoletta Bombardiere, who wished to greet all the crew deployed on the flight deck. The ambassador, noting the strong link between the Italian Armed Forces and Lebanon, cited the "Cedar Emergency" operation, which launched in 2020 following the explosion of more than 2.000 tons of ammonium nitrate in the port of Beirut on August 4th of that year and which devastated a large part of the port damaging large areas of the city, saw the intervention of the Navy with Nave San Giusto in support of the local population. His Excellency also wanted to emphasize how important the constant presence of Italian assets in the area, hoping for further future stops in the port of the capital, one of the most important connection points between East and West since the Crusades.
On the sidelines of the visit, a training event was conducted with the Lebanese ship Trablous in the waters facing the port of the capital, which gave young shipboard officers the opportunity to train in close kinematic maneuvers, and added a further step to the process of increasing interoperability between the two Marines.
When finished, Ship Marceglia, under the command of the frigate captain Francesco Ruggiero, resumed navigation to the West to continue the presence and surveillance activity in the Mediterranean Sea to contribute to maritime security and the defense of national interests.
