Italian Margottini docks at Abu Dhabi

Commander Giuseppe Lai speaks at a press conference on the occasion of Margottini's visit to Zayed Port. - Photo By Ryan Lim

An Italian naval warship arrived in the Capital as part of strengthening ties between the UAE and Italy. The ship, Carlo Margottini, docked at the Zayed Port will remain for six days.
Commanding officer of Margottini Commander Giuseppe Lai on Sunday said: "The ship visit serves as an opportunity for Italian companies to establish connections like Fincantieri, Elettronica, Leonardo, MBDA etc."
He added that the European multi-mission frigate had set sail from Italian port of La Spezia on February 20 for a campaign in the Middle East and a counter-piracy operation 'Atalanta' at Djibouti next month.
"We aim to give the Italian Navy a presence in the Middle East region and promote cooperation between allies and partner nations. This is an opportunity to enhance cooperation with the UAE. There can be more initiatives in future," Lai told Khaleej Times onboard the ship docked at Zayed Port.
The naval chiefs of both the UAE and Italy also held a meeting on Sunday. Around 200 distinguished guests onboard the ship will have a diplomatic reception today.
Margottini is second Italian anti-submarine version. The ship is double in size than previous version and with 167 crew members. The ship was designed to assure stealth capabilities. The ship has innovative weapon systems such as mew multifunctional radar MFRA.
"The ship undertakes broad range of missions like counter terrorism, prevention of illegal trafficking, irregular immigration control, maritime security, protection of naval groups and humanitarian assistance as well," Lai added.
Alessandro Neto, Italian Embassy deputy head of mission, said Margottini is engaging in diverse missions and has pride of place in Italian Navy. "Such visit and bilateral talks among naval chiefs will enhance relations."
The ship has been to Karachi, Doha, Kuwait City, Dammam before docking at Zayed Port. It will be leave for Djibouti on Thursday.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com