A touching ceremony took place today at Intermarine shipyard in Sarzana for the launch of the First of Class MCMV 2010 for the Finnish navy.
The ceremony was presided over by Admiral Hans Holmström, commander in chief of the Finnish navy, Luciano La Noce, managing director of Immsi and president of Rodriquez Cantieri Navali and Edoardo Cossutta, Intermarine director.
Also attending this important event were Admiral Gauzolino on behalf of the commander in chief of the Italian navy, and several local authorities.
The sponsor of the ship was Tiina Laisi Puheloinen who during the ceremony (according to the Finnish seafaring tradition) disclosed the name assigned to the ship.
Also present were Roberto Colaninno, president of the IMMSI Group that controls Intermarine through Rodriquez Shipyard. Mr Colaninno visited the shipyard in Sarzana and the ship destined for the Finnish Navy, and outlined the strategic value of the contract for Intermarine.
The construction of the hull of this first unit started in July 2007, with a touching ceremony of “start of lamination” (which, for vessels in composite material, corresponds to the keel laying ceremony), while the building of the two subsequent vessels started in March 2008 and February 2009 respectively.
The building quality of the Finnish ships is confirmed by the classification grade attributed to her by RINA (the Italian Ship Register), that will certify (for the first time for this kind of ship) the compliance with the strict standards provided by RINAMIL (Italian Military Ship Register) for the classification of military ships, in terms of design approval and building surveillance and inspection.
A number of technological innovations have been introduced by Intermarine for this new class of vessel, such as the use of a new type of glass fibre for hull construction and the superstructure implementation by using a vacuum-assisted resin infusion process.
This latest innovation has allowed a strong improvement of the mechanical properties of the composite material, improved the quality of the product and optimised the working environment, being a technique that minimises risk of pollution.
It is worth noting one of the basic milestones of this success: the excellent level of the relationship between the Finnish navy and Intermarine, that has been essential for the success of this sophisticated and innovative product, both in technological and operational terms.