The Legendary Amerigo Vespucci, the historic sailing and training ship of the Italian Navy, renowned as a 'global symbol of Italy`s maritime heritage, arrived at Oman's Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat as part of its two-year world tour.
It was received upon its docking by Brigadier Jassim bin Mohammed al Balushi, Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO). The RNO Music Band played the Italian National Anthem and a number of military musical pieces, in addition to presenting traditional Omani maritime arts shows that added a heritage touch that embodies the cultural and maritime ties between the Sultanate of Oman and Italy.
The Amerigo Vespucci is a tall ship of the Italian Navy (Marina Militare) named after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Her home port is La Spezia, Italy and she is in use as a training ship. This visit is especially historic as it marks Vespucci's first ever journey to Oman in its 93 years of service and will be open to the public for visits on January 9, 10 and 11 with prior registration.
"This visit is historic as it marks Vespucci's first ever journey to Oman in its 93 years of service and people need to register to enable them to visit the ship," representative of the Khimji Shipping, the local agents of the vessel, said. The ship will leave the Port on January 12.
The Amerigo Vespucci has 26 sails — square sails, staysails and jibs: all are traditional canvas sails. When under sail in severe sea and wind conditions she can reach 12 knots (22 km/h). The rig, some 30 km of ropes, uses only traditional hemp ropes and only the mooring lines are synthetic, to comply with port regulations. The three steel masts are 50, 54 and 43 metres high and carry sails totalling 2,824 m2 (30,400 sq ft).
The available data on the vessel says that she is a full-rigged three-masted steel hull 82.4 m (270 ft) long, with an overall length of 101 m (331 ft) including the bowsprit and a maximum width of 15.5 m (51 ft). She has a draught of about 7 m (23 ft) and a displacement at full load of 4146 tonnes. Under auxiliary diesel-electric propulsion the Amerigo Vespucci can reach 10 knots (19 km/h) and has a range of 5450 nm at 6.5 knots.
The standard crew of the Amerigo Vespucci is 16 officers, 70 non-commissioned officers and 190 sailors. In summer, when she embarks the midshipmen of the Naval Academy (Accademia Navale), the crew totals some 450.
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