Oldest ship of Italian Navy – training sailer Amerigo Vespucci – will visit Sevastopol in Aug 23-27, reports Italian Navy’s press release.
During the visit, Italian mariners will meet with local authorities, Black Sea Fleet command, and take part in cultural exchange activities.
On Aug 9 Amerigo Vespucci visited Turkish port Istanbul. The sailing ship will leave Turkey on Aug 14 heading for Odessa, Ukraine to stay there since Aug 18 till Aug 22. After the visit to Sevastopol, the ship will call at Greek port Piraeus. Earlier on, Amerigo Vespucci called at Maltese capital Valletta, Israeli port Haifa, and Cyprian port Limasol.
About 280 crewmembers and cadets of Leghorn Naval Academy are on board the ship.
Sailing ship Amerigo Vespucci was launched on Feb 22, 1931 and since then almost every year she performs training cruises for first-year cadets. The ship 39 times sailed waters of North Europe, 14 – the Mediterranean Sea, 5 – East Atlantic, 6 – the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, 7 – near North America, 1 – off South America, and 2 times sailed round the world.
The sailer’s displacement is 4,146 tons, length is 101 meters, beam is 15.56 meters, draft is 7.5 meters, mainmast height is 54 meters. Two diesels are used as auxiliary powerplant.
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Source: rusnavy, August 12, 2011;