​Last October 18, Operation Mare Nostrum celebrated her first year onboard ITS San Giorgio – presently headquartering the 29th Naval Group Command (CGN29), with a flag lowering ceremony held on the flight deck.
One year of hard work for all the crew members of our Navy who, in cooperation with public agencies and charities, engaged in one of the most impressive humanitarian missions since WWII that has allowed to save thousands of human lives.

On October 18, 2013, following the tragic events of October 3 and 11 in Lampedusa, the Italian Government started the Operation Mare Nostrum to tackle the massive migration flows from North Africa. The Italian Navy, in synergy with the Port Authorities, the Home Affairs Boarders Police General Office, supported by the Revenue Guard Corps, the State Police, the Carabinieri Corps and our Air Force, begins to patrol the Sicily Straits and the waters south of Lampedusa.

Three hundred sixty five days into the H24 operation, the migrants assisted by our units have been over 152,000 women, men and children. Over 95,000 migrants rescued by our ships; 351 smugglers brought to justice, also thanks to the cooperation with the Public Prosecutors; 9 mother ships seized. These results were achieved deploying 32 navy ships, 2 submarines and helicopters, and average of 900 military a day; nearly 60 emergency sanitary transfers by helicopter, 13 boardings on suspect vessels by the San Marco Brigade fusiliers.
During the whole year the Italian Navy, the Air Force, Public Authorities and the Armed Forces have not spared themselves in their shared effort to protect human lives and grant health control on the would be migrants and refugees. Specific thanks go to:

• The agreement with the Ministry of Health which provided health surveillance against biological risks;
• The Home Affairs Boarders Police General Office, in cooperation with cultural mediators which carried out the early identification procedures onboard;
•  Doctors and nurses from the Fondazione RAVA, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Italian Red Cross military and nurses, all providing medical care onboard the ships;
•  Save the Children, for their support, legal counseling, and cultural mediation with children;
•  The U.N.H.C.R. (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) training seminars for the Italian Navy personnel on the refugees rights.