Italian Navy ship ITS Francesco Morosini. — Photo courtesy of the Italian Embassy

HCM CITY — Italian Navy ship ITS Francesco Morosini is making a port visit in Nhà Rồng Wharf port in HCM City from May 9-12 to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the Italian Navy and the Việt Nam People’s Navy.

According to the Italian Embassy, the port call is part of the multipurpose offshore patrol vessel’s five-month naval campaign in the Asia Pacific.

Morosini will dock in 14 ports in Southeast Asia to strengthen Italy’s naval diplomacy.

Morosini is the second ship of the Italian Navy’s Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessel class, which represents the cutting-edge of Italian technology in the naval and electronic sector.

The vessel has impressive characteristics, such as 6,000 tonnes of displacement, 143m in length, 17.5m in width, a crew of 137 members and a top speed of 32 knots.

The visit of the vessel is part of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Việt Nam.

From May 10-11, there will be a photo exhibition featuring bilateral relations in many fields between the two countries provided by the Italian News Agency (ANSA) and the Việt Nam News Agency (VNA).

The Morosini vessel will also conduct “passage exercises” (PASSEX) with the Vietnamese Navy during the port call before it leaves on May 12.

PASSEX is undertaken when two naval units belonging to different Navies meet at sea and testing common procedures in an international training environment, thus helping to maintain the naval fleet’s operational capability and promoting international cooperation.

The public can visit the vessel from 10am to 12pm on May 10-11. They will need to register at hochiminh.commerciale@esteri.it in advance. — VNS