The keel laying ceremony of the Logistic Support Ship (LSS) was held today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Riva Trigoso (Sestri Levante, Genoa).
Construction works continue on the first unit of the renewal plan of the Italian Navy’s fleet, which has been commissioned to Fincantieri. The vessel will be delivered in 2019.
The LSS is a vessel that provides logistics support to the fleet, endowed with hospital and healthcare capabilities thanks to the presence of a fully equipped hospital, complete with operating rooms, radiology and analysis rooms, a dentist’s office and hospital rooms capable of hosting up to 12 seriously injured patients. The ship is capable of combining capacity to transport and transfer to other transport vessels used for liquids (diesel fuel, jet fuel, fresh water) and solids (emergency spare parts, food and ammunitions) and to perform at sea repairs and maintenance work for other vessels. At this time defense systems are limited to the capacity of command and control in tactical scenarios, communications and dissuasive, non-lethal defense systems. The vessel is also geared toward embarking more complex defence systems and becoming an intelligence and electronic war platform.
• 165 meters long
• speed of 20 knots
• 200 berths for crew and specialists (including inpatients)
• 4 replenishment station abeam and 1 astern
• Capacity to supply drinking water to land
• Capacity to provide electricity to land with 2500 kw of power
• Possibility of embarking up to 8 residential and healthcare modules
• Capacity to perform rescues at sea, through recovery and seabed operations (the ship is equipped with an 30 tons offshore stabilized crane stabilized)
• Base for rescue operations through helicopters and special vessels