ABOARD THE AMERIGO VESPUCCI: ITALY'S FLOATING AMBASSADOR SAILING THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE WORLD'S PORTS

CIVITAVECCHIA, ITALY • After twenty months and thirty countries visited, the majestic Italian Navy training ship, the Amerigo Vespucci, returns to Italy for a Mediterranean Tour. Commander Giuseppe Lai, in an interview with Euronews, shares the emotion of reliving his cadet days aboard, highlighting the ship's mission to promote Italian excellence and unity through the sea.

Stepping aboard the "most beautiful ship in the world," the Amerigo Vespucci, is an experience that moves not only those who have dedicated their lives to the sea, but many others as well. Doing so "at home," in the port of Civitavecchia, after a round-the-world voyage that began on July 1, 2023, makes it even more special.

To conclude the nearly two-year journey that began in Genoa, the Ministry of Defence decided to organize the Mediterranean Tour: an 18-stop itinerary calling at major Italian ports from Trieste to Genoa, including Durrës in Albania and Valletta in Malta. This tour aims to share the success of the circumnavigation with the public.

The tour will culminate in Genoa on June 10, coinciding with Navy Day. As with the global tour, the Vespucci will serve as the centerpiece for Villaggio Italia during its Mediterranean leg. This immersive and itinerant exhibition, set up in each visited port, showcases the ship's mission, Italian excellence, and the power of the sea as a symbol of unity.

For its 16th stop, the Vespucci will be in Civitavecchia at Molo del Bicchiere until June 3, before sailing on to Livorno and Genoa.

The Unique Vespucci Training Ship

As its first Italian stop, the ship returned home last March to Trieste, where it was welcomed by a special edition of the Barcolana regatta and a flyover by the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team. For certain legs of the journey, between Brindisi and Reggio Calabria and from Livorno to Genoa, the Vespucci embarked cadets from the Naval Academy's First Class as part of their training campaign. Also on board were very young sailors aged 12 to 17, selected through a collaboration with the Italian Sailing Federation—a unique opportunity to experience the sea firsthand, sailing on one of history's most captivating ships.

This is an experience Commander Giuseppe Lai knows well. Before commanding the Vespucci on its second round-the-world voyage, he had sailed on it as a cadet. "At the Naval Academy, the Vespucci campaign is done at the end of the first year," he tells Euronews. "For me, as for all my classmates, it was the first time we set foot on a ship and experienced life at sea. Returning as commander makes you relive some of the same emotions, because it's a ship that has remained crystallized in its aesthetics, almost identical to when it was launched. Seeing the cadets on board today took me back in time, and it's a strong motivation to pass on the lessons each of us absorbed throughout our careers."