Saturday 12 April 2025 - Otranto

This is the day of the arrival of the Amerigo Vespucci.

The “Amerigo Vespucci” is the oldest active military vessel in the Italian Navy. Its motto, “Not who begins, but he who perseveres,” inspired by the words of Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian polymath of the Renaissance, emphasizes the importance of seeing projects through to completion. 

Designed and launched by the royal shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia on 22 February 1931, the Amerigo Vespucci was commissioned as a training ship in June of that year. It embarked on its first training voyage through Northern Europe in July 1931. The ship boasts three main decks (upper, middle, and tween) and two superstructures (the forecastle and the aft castle). At the bow, a gilded bronze figurehead depicts Amerigo Vespucci, the 15th-century Italian explorer and navigator who lent his name to the “New World.”

 

Since her launch, the Amerigo Vespucci has been primarily used to train cadets in the first year of the Italian Naval Academy, along with students from the Francesco Morosini Military School, cadets from other Italian Navy training institutions, and young recruits from organizations like Lega Navale and Sail Training Association Italia. The ship’s crew consists of 264 military personnel, divided into 15 Officers, 30 Non-commissioned Officers, 34 Sergeants, and 185 Petty Officers and Seamen. These members are organized into the following services: Operations, Nautical, Detail/Armaments, Naval/Electrical Engineering, Administrative/Logistics, and Medical. During the Training Campaign, the crew is supplemented by approximately 100 Cadets and support staff from the Naval Academy, bringing the total to around 400 personnel.

For the last 30 years, the ship has also been employed in safeguarding the natural environment and the maritime ecosystem. It regularly cooperates with associations like UNICEF (as a Goodwill Ambassador since 2007), WWF, and Marevivo, exemplifying the Italian Navy’s policy of Complementary Use, to impart to new generations the importance of respecting our planet. Due to her continuous naval diplomacy missions around the world, Amerigo Vespucci has earned the reputation of being a floating Italian Embassy.

 

We were aware of movement in the harbour around 6am, and looking on the AIS, a large flotilla of boatshad gone out to welcome the old girl in. A couple of hours later, four tugs were aiding the ship to dock, just along the quay from our spot. Tickets were available to buy to go aboard in the afternoon. The dock was full of more military groups in dress uniform. The band was playing.

We were very aware of having a weather window to more south to Otranto, then cross to Greece before stormy conditions would come in, so mid morning we slipped lines to leave. Unfortunately, while slipping out of our berth, we got one of the lazy lines, that are used to keep you straight in stern to parking, wrapped round our prop, so we were stuck, pinned in place and with no working engine. Our next door neighbour was working on his boat and kindly called a diver. A couple of hours later, the diver freed the rope. We delicately manoeuvred alongside our helpful neighbour briefly, to hand over payment for the diver and retrieve one our ropes that had dropped in the water while this was all going on. At last we were on our way.

Having left rather later than planned, we needed to make good speed to get to Otranto before nightfall. We could go in, in the dark, we’ve been there before, but we could do with being able to anchor in daylight and not have any further dramas. We made it there, with an hour to spare.

Distance today -        43 Miles

Distance this year - 106 miles 

Tricia (and Steve)