It will be, perhaps predictably, Fincantieri to build the new major oceanographic ship of the Italian Navy, also known by the initials Niom. The group, we learn, has in fact obtained in the procedure an overall score of 100/100, “for an amount of € 284,000,000.00 (VAT not taxable) of which € 9,000,000.00 in option”, therefore equal to the maximum amount that had been set in the tender.
With the award, approved at the end of November, the process that will lead the Italian Navy fleet to equip itself with its new flagship, destined to take the place of Magnaghi, in view of its upcoming retirement, can finally start.
This outcome, it should be remembered, came to the end of a process that began, at least from the point of view of the research of the construction site, in August 2021, and which saw the budget set for the construction of the unit change several times.
After initially starting a tender that established a ceiling of 281 million for the design and construction of the Niom and for the related logistical support services, the Italian Navy’s Naval Directorate of Armaments had blocked the procedure, and then decided to launch a new tender in which the expenditure commitment was lightened to 259 million euros. However, after this procedure had ended with nothing done (no operator had come forward), last September it had come to the last attempt, the one that has now led to the award to Fincantieri, in which the budget – probably also to take into account the increases in material costs intervened in the meantime – had finally been raised to 284 million.
In detail, the tender, divided into six lots, provides for the design and supply of a ship equipped with DP 2 positioning systems, overall length of 105 meters, width of 18, with displacement of 5,000 tons, full electric propulsion, maximum speed of 15 knots, autonomy of 7,000 miles (at 12 knots), and 145 beds. The project in October 2020 had also obtained funding from the EIB (European Investment Bank), which will support with a loan of 220 million euros the construction of the largest oceanographic vessel as well as two smaller units that will operate in the Mediterranean.
In particular, the Niom – which like the other two smaller ships will be managed by the Hydrographic Institute of the Navy, based in Genoa – will have the task of “ensuring without interruption the fulfillment of the institutional tasks relating to the National Hydrographic Service” that are directly attributed to it, also allowing Italy to “increase its research and exploration capabilities in new regions of the world, such as the Arctic […] and the possible opening of new trade routes”, activities to carry out which must be able to operate at -20 °. In addition, the ship will have to carry out activities to update nautical cartography and in general in support of the scientific community both nationally and internationally or on behalf of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO).
Article taken from Shipping Italy
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