Italian Navy Amerigo Vespucci is currently on tours of major ports in his home country after successfully completing voyages around the world.
The ship left Genoa on July 1, 2023 and returned to Italy almost two years later, arriving at Trieste in March.
Once we got home we started our 18-phase tour, which concluded on June 10th. This trip includes stops at Italy’s largest ports, as well as other ports in Dahles, Albania, and Valletta, Malta.
Like the World Tour, Mediterranean Legs, a ship named after a well-known explorer promotes an immersive exhibit called the Italian Village.
The exhibition, set up at the port where the ship visits, tells visitors about the boat’s mission, Italian culture, and the strength of the ocean as a symbol of the Union.
Unique school boat
On the route between Brindisi and Ledge Ocarabria and between Livorno and Genoa, the first class cadets at the Naval Academy were spent on Bespucci as part of their training program.
Thanks to a collaboration with the Italian Sailing Federation, young sailors, ages 12 to 17, were also on board.
Captain Giuseppelai personally benefited from such experiences when he was younger.
Long before he commanded Vespucci on the 2nd World Voyage, he sailed it as a student.
“At the Naval Academy, the campaign on Vespucci will take place at the end of the first year,” he told Euronows.
“For me, it was my first time living on board with all my classmates. When I return there as a captain, I relive some of the same emotions because it remains crystallized in that aesthetic, and is about the same as when it was fired.
“To see me riding trainees today, it went back in time, and it’s a strong incentive to share with them the lessons that each of us has absorbed into our careers,” he added.
Vespucci’s Round World Tour
On the world tour, Vespucci traveled to 30 countries in 20 months, carrying over 400,000 visitors.
“The round voyage of the world on a Vespucci is perhaps the most beautiful experience a naval commander can have,” continued Rai.
“In its 94-year history, the ship has only traveled the world twice. It is a unique feat and a huge privilege. It allows you to discover other cultures and at the same time make Italy known to the world,” he said.
The history of the ship
Built in 1930 at the Regio Shipyard at the Castellammare di Stapia Shipyard and launched in February 1931, Vespucci began service at Regia Marina a few months later.
Since then, she has trained Italian naval officers and has represented Italy around the world.
The ship’s motto is engraved on the stern, but now it is “not the one who begins, but the one who endures.”
Vespucci is 101 meters long and over 15 meters wide, with three masts and 2,635 square meters of sails.
The hull is made from steel, teak decks and precious forest interiors. A major modernization was completed in 2016 and equipped with a new diesel electric propulsion system. But it’s still the wind that drives her as much as possible.
At the age of 94, she is currently the longest service ship in the Italian Navy.
