Bow section of “Vulcano” launched in Castellammare

April 11, 2017 – The launching ceremony of the bow section of the LSS logistic support unit “Vulcano”, took place yesterday at the shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia (Naples) in the presence of the Italian Minister of Defence, Roberta Pinotti. The unit was ordered to Fincantieri within the renewal plan of the Italian Navy’s fleet. Godmother of the ceremony was Mrs. Maria Teresa Piras, widow of the vessel tenant Emilio Attramini, young Italian Navy Officer, who died in 1977 in the air disaster of the Monte Serra. The ceremony was attended, among others, by the Undersecretary of State for Defence, Gioacchino Alfano, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral Valter Girardelli, the Mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, Antonio Pannullo, and the Chairman of Fincantieri, Ambassador Giampiero Massolo. The bow section launched today, 94 meters long, 24 meters wide, 16.3 meters high, weighing about 4.100 tons, will be transported by sea to the shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia), where it will be assembled to set up the entire unit with the stern section. The delivery of the LSS is scheduled in 2019. The multi-year program for the renewal of the Italian Navy’s fleet foresees the construction, besides the LSS, of one transport and landing unit (LHD or Landing Helicopter Dock) - this unit, too, to be built in this shipyard with works starting this summer and launching in the summer 2019 - as well as seven Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Ships (PPA), with other three in option. The fundamental characteristic common to all three classes of ships is their high level of innovation providing them with a considerable degree of efficiency and flexibility in serving different mission profiles. In particular, these are dual use vessels, meaning that they may be used for both standard military purposes and those in favour of the community (as for example for civil protection), and they also have a low environmental impact thanks to a state-of-the-art auxiliary propulsion system generating a low level of pollution emissions (electric engines).