Fincantieri to build new hydro-oceanographic ship for Italian Navy

As part of an EU tender for the Defence and Security sector, Fincantieri has signed a contract for the construction of a new hydro-oceanographic ship (NIOM) for the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute.

As disclosed, the contract was signed with the Secretariat General of Defence and the National Armaments Directorate – Naval Armaments Directorate (NAVARM).

The total value of the contract is approximately €280 million and it also includes integrated logistics support and temporary support services for a duration of six years with an option to extend for another four.

The delivery is scheduled for 2026 at the integrated shipyard in Riva Trigoso-Muggiano.

This marks the start of the renewal of the naval units of the Italian Navy’s hydrographic service.

The unit was designed paying the utmost attention to green aspects, according to Fincantieri.

Among its main features are technologies to contain emissions, a diesel-electric propulsion system to optimise fuel consumption, hull shapes to reduce drag and the use of environment-friendly materials.

In the area of sustainability, the production process also participates in the company’s ongoing commitment to environmental management systems, as witnessed by the integrated Riva Trigoso-Muggiano site’s compliance with the ISO 14001 international standard, as well as all the Group’s other Italian sites.

This program is part of an innovative European project involving the Italian Ministry of Defence, and within the scope of which a funding agreement between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) has been reached.

In 2018 Fincantieri supplied the Kronprins Haakon, an oceanographic icebreaker intended to operate in polar waters, to the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), the Norwegian government’s oceanographic and fisheries research organisation.

Furthermore, in 2021 the firm oversaw an exceptional refit of the Laura Bassi, Italy’s only oceanographic research icebreaker, owned by the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics.