Yesterday afternoon, the Training Ship of the Italian Navy “Amerigo Vespucci” arrived at the Naval Base Buenos Aires, where it will remain until March 21st as part of its visit after completing its scheduled maintenance work at the Rio Santiago Shipyard (ARS).
With a comprehensive schedule of activities, the ship will be open to the public for visits and various cultural activities before embarking on the second leg of its second world tour, which will extend throughout 2024 and 2025.
During its stay at the facilities of the Rio Santiago Shipyard (ARS), the Amerigo Vespucci underwent scheduled maintenance tasks on its propulsion systems, engines, cooling systems, tanks, masts, sails, furniture, and other ship equipment.
The ship arrived at ARS during the afternoon of Sunday, November 5, 2023, as part of a stop for repair work during its extensive voyage, which concluded on the 13th of the current month. Prior to arriving at the shipyard located in the city of Ensenada, the ship departed on July 1st from the port of Genoa (Italy), making stops in Marseille (France), Las Palmas (Spain), Dakar (Senegal), Praia (Cape Verde), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Cartagena (Colombia), Port of Spain (Trinidad), and Fortaleza (Brazil).
The Amerigo Vespucci is a sailing ship with a full rig configuration consisting of three masts measuring 54, 50, and 43 meters in height, with twenty-six sails covering an area of over 2000 square meters. It has a length of 100.5 meters, a beam of 15.56 meters, and a draft of 7.3 meters.
As the oldest ship in service of the Marina Militare, the Amerigo Vespucci celebrated its 93rd anniversary since its launch on February 22nd. This marks the second time this training ship has visited Argentina, with the first being in 1952 as part of its regular training campaigns.
*Image credits: Ministry of Defense
You may also like: Amphibious Assault Ships of the Italian Navy: a possibility to recover the amphibious transport capabilities of the Argentine Navy