Ship Margottini of the Navy is the new one since yesterday flagship of Operation EUNAVFOR MED Irini to replace the amphibious unit St. George. On board, Rear Admiral Ettore Socci, the Force Commander of the air and naval force, will lead the assets in the area of operation until 18 October. From the following day, command at sea will pass to Greece for six months, while the command of the mission will remain with Italy, in the person of Admiral Fabio Agostini, who leads the operation from the headquarters in Rome Centocelle.
The salute to the San Giorgio ship
"Bravo Zulu to the crew of Nave San Giorgio" said Admiral Fabio Agostini during the greeting ceremony, which was held in Brindisi on 2 September. “Bravo Zulu” is the seafaring term for: “Great job”. L'operation commander Agostini recalled in his speech the results of the Italian ship, which traveled 6397 miles and spent 38 days in the operation area, interrogating 129 merchant ships in transit ("hailing" in technical terms) and making a visit aboard a merchant ("friendly approach"). During the ceremony, the honors of irini to some crew members, as recognition of the work done during the period of employment in the mission.
The results of the Operation
From 4 May, the day of the start of activities at sea, the Irini assets have interrogated 600 suspicious ships (hailing) and carried out 12 visits to merchant vessels (friendly approach) to obtain information on illicit trafficking in the central Mediterranean. Irini - thanks also to the work of intelligence and SatCen, which provided over 200 albums of satellite images - controls over 10 ports and landing points and 25 airports and airstrips. In these four months, it not only monitored suspicious ships, but also reported the presence of 80 flights of interest to and from Libya, helping to implement the arms embargo and control of illicit oil trafficking with 14 reports, delivered to the UN Panel of Experts.
