Photo: Italian FREMM frigate Carlo Margottini on maiden Suez Canal transit

ITS Carlo Margottini transits the Suez Canal. Photo: Italian Navy

The Italian Navy’s FREMM frigate ITS Carlo Margottini, in service since February 2014, recently achieved another first en route to her Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea deployment.

Having sailed from her homeport in La Spezia on February 20, ITS Carlo Margottini transited the Suez Canal for the the first time on February 26, 2018.

Before transiting the Suez Canal, the frigate stopped in the Greek port of Souda for a brief port visit.

Carlo Margottini’s first destination in the Persian Gulf will be the Dimdex exhibition in Doha where the FREMM frigate will be showcasing Italian defense industry capabilities.

After concluding regional engagements in the Indian Ocean, the frigate is scheduled to join the EU NAVFOR-led counter-piracy operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

ITS Carlo Margottini is scheduled to head home in August this year.