The Italian Navy has decommissioned two of its Minerva-class corvettes, Urania and Danaide, during a flag lowering ceremony held at the Italian Augusta Naval Base, March 10.
The 1987-commissioned corvettes have spent almost 30 years serving in the ‘Marina Militare’.
Both vessels were built by the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri at its Riva Trigoso and Muggiano shipyards in 1986. They will now, once again, go to one of Fincantieri’s shipyards to be refurbished before they are sold to Bangladesh.
By decommissioning the ships, the Italian Navy is continuing its process of downsizing its fleet due to the aging of vessels it is composed of. It is estimated that the vessel count will decline by 65% within the next decade.