The ‘Sea at 360 degrees’ will be the undisputed protagonist of Seafuture
La Spezia. Â 20 June 2018. Â Analyzing all aspects of the maritime domain to provide a business model that combines industry, science, technology and environmental awareness: this is the goal of Seafuture.
Organized by Italian Blue Growth (IBG) – promoting company together with the Italian Industries Federation for Aerospace, Defence and Security (AIAD), the Region of Liguria and Blue Hub in cooperation with the Italian Navy – the Seafuture 2018 edition will take place from 19 to 23 June in the La Spezia Navy Base,Italy. Seafuture is the only event dedicated to the naval vessel upgrading and life-cycle management based on the use of the most sophisticated technologies available.
During the presentation press conference, Cristiana Pagni, president of IBG as well as creator and promotor of the event, provided facts and figures for the Seafuture sixth edition: 9,000 square meters of exhibition space between the historic buildings of the Navy Base, over 40 foreign delegations, 1,500 bilateral meetings between companies and delegations and between companies themselves, 28 conferences, seminars and workshops regarding both technical and strategic policy issues.
Around 180 major companies and small-to-medium enterprises, together with other maritime cluster organizations and sector associations including State institutions and Government and non-governmental organizations, mainly from Italy, but also from all over the world will participate in the Seafuture 2018 edition. The Italian shipbuilding sector will be represented by Fincantieri, Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, Intermarine, Cantiere Navale Vittoria, Effebi, Ferretti Security and Defence (FSD), Baglietto Navy, Novamarine, Stem Marine, CABI Cattaneo and Zodiac, along with the combat system and naval equipment  suppliers including Leonardo, MBDA, Elettronica, Calzoni, GEM Elettronica, Gay Marine, Civitanavi Systems, Ingegneria Dei Sistemi (IDS), Martec, RINA, Seastema, Sitep, Insis, Elsel, Nuova Connavi, Drass, Eurocontrol, Fiocchi Munizioni, MTU, Volvo Pent, Thales Alenia Space Italia, the French shipbuilding giant Naval Group and Thales, NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) and the Ligurian Cluster of Marine Technologies (DLTM).
Foreign delegations and operators will have the opportunity to visit and experience at sea demonstrations not only onboard latest generation warships such as the Italian Navy multi-purpose FREMM frigates in both anti-submarine (ASW) and general purpose or anti-surface warfare (ASuW) configurations but also onboard the newest smaller vessels and boats produced by the Italian shipbuilding sector, in addition to the Italian Navy’s older vessels which could find new life through a proper refitting and upgrade project, to be managed by the national shipbuilding industry.
Besides  ITS Virginio Fasan and ITS Luigi Rizzo  – respectively ASW and ASuW-configured multipurpose frigates developed and built under the joint French-Italian programme managed by European OCCAR agency – and the Amerigo Vespucci training vessel, foreign delegations will have the opportunity to experience at sea demonstrations, among others, onboard Ferretti Security and Defense (FSD) 20-meters FSD195 fast patrol vessel in a new variant, Baglietto Navy’s 15-meters FFC-15 fast multipurpose transport landing troop vessel and Stem Marine 7.5-meters STEM 750 Jet rescue boat. It will also be possible to see the 12-meters SWAD (Sea Watch Dog) unmanned/optionally piloted surface vehicle (USV/OPV) developed by DLTM-lead group of 8-companies under government funding and L3 Calzoni’s Lyra remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in action. #Leonardo and #IDS Ingegneria Dei Sistemi (IDS) will also exhibit respectively the AWHero short-range tactical rotary-wing and the IA-17 small fixed-wing UAVs.
Foreign delegations will also have the opportunity to visit and experience at sea demonstrations onboard ITS Euro (Maestrale-class frigate), ITS Aviere (Soldati-class fleet-patrol ship), Driade (Minerva-class corvette), and discover how these vessels could find a new life and missions to accomplish in the future, under advice from the Italian Navy and naval shipbuilding industry.