A sailor's not a sailor if a sailor's not well trained

The Italian navy's training ship Palinuro is currently on a brief visit to Malta.

Mainly used to educating aspiring petty officers in the Italian navy, the Palinuro offers the opportunity to young volunteers wishing to spend three months on board as a summer experience, Captain Flavio Bugossi, 42, who joined the navy in 1982, said.

"We teach them about the winds and currents, how to handle sails, navigation, seamanship and safety at sea, together with military discipline and management of personnel," he explained.

The adventure for young sailors is called Sail Training. It is a learning experience that enables young sailors to learn more about themselves and to learn the value of leadership and of working in a team, developing a willingness to take controlled risks, Capt. Bugossi said.

The experience is enhanced in all ports of call since sailors have the possibility to visit different maritime institutes, meet their local counterparts and tour the countries enhancing their cultural baggage.

The Palinuro left the port of Taranto on May 30 and will end her voyage in her homeport on August 29.

Malta was the fourth leg of the trip. On Monday, she will sail to Toulon (France), then to Salerno (Italy) and, finally, to Palma de Mallorca (Spain) before sailing back to Taranto. It has already been to Barcelona and Morocco and called at the Tunisian port of La Goulette before undertaking her voyage to Malta. The ship was in Malta twice before.

With a crew of eight officers, 32 petty officers, about 60 sailors and 33 young sailors, including nine females, the ship is equipped with 100 square metres of fully-functional sails and a 600-horsepower diesel engine which, the captain said, does not substitute the "rudimentary methods of navigation".

Having a 59-metre-long steel hull, the Palinuro is a "barkentine", the captain explained, which in seafaring language means a three-mastered vessel with a bowsprit.

"The foremast is square rigged while the main and the mizzen have fore-and-aft sails, in addition to the jibs and staysails," he said.

The ship has a single deck below consisting of the crew's living quarters and various service spaces.

Launched at a Nantes shipyard in 1934 and christened Commandant Louis Richard, she used to sail between France and Newfoundland loading fishing fleet's catch, transporting it back to her home country.

The ship had been purchased by the Italian navy in 1950 and, following a radical rebuild that took five years, she was renamed Palinuro for Palinurus, the helmsman of the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas. The masthead of the ship is a gold-coloured statue of the ancient helmsman.

"She has ever since been used to train petty officers studying to become boatswain and motor mechanics in the training colleges of the Italian navy," the captain said.

Currently berthed at Pinto Wharf till Monday, the ship will be open for public viewing tomorrow afternoon between 2 and 7 p.m.