The departure of the Algerian vessel “Kalaat Beni Abbes” from the Ligurian Fincantieri Muggiano shipyard marks the conclusion, on time, of the On-the-Job Training and preliminary training phase, carried out under the responsibility of the “New Ship Facilities Office” (MARINALLES) at La Spezia, which gave the crew the license to autonomously and safely operate the vessel.
With the vessel arriving to the new naval base in Taranto, in southern Italy, starts the final part of the basic operational sea training phase which will occur under the responsibility of the “Italian Navy Training Center” (MARICENTADD). The training program will be concluded by the end of February 2015, with the vessel being scheduled to sail to Algeria after having completed testing of its missile systems by the end of April 2015.
The training syllabus, coordinated by OSN with the fundamental support of the Italian Navy, started in October 2013 at the “Italian Navy Training Center” (MARICENTADD) where the crew followed initial instruction courses, technical classroom sessions supplied in cooperation with Fincantieri and Selex ES and the tactical/operational training conducted by means of the new naval simulator developed by Orizzonte Sistemi Navali.
The good news of an important agreement “Fincantieri Training Academy” signed between Fincantieri and the Italian Navy concerning the training of foreign Navies crews comes exactly when the crew was cleared for sailing by the Admiral commanding the “Italian Navy Training Center”, Rear Admiral Marcello Bernard.
The agreement represents also a positive result for Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, which, as prime contractor of the Kalaat Beni Abbes, coordinated the ambitious project thanks to which the Algerian Navy will have, in little more than three years, its flagship, with the first completely trained crew, taking into consideration that the plate-cutting happened in January 2012.