The 80 years old Amerigo Vespucci which belongs to the Italian Accademia Navale visited the port of Haifa last week.
The vessel is a full rigged three mast steel hull 82.4 m (270.34 ft) long, with an overall length of 101 m (331 ft) including the bowsprit and a maximum width of 15.5 m (51 ft). She has a draught of about 7 meters (23 ft) and a displacement at full load of 4146 tons. Under auxiliary diesel-electric propulsion power, the Amerigo Vespucci reaches a top speed of 10 knots and has an autonomy of 5450 nm (at 6.5 knots).
The three steel masts are 50, 54, and 43 meters high, respectively, and carry sails that total 2824 m² (30400 ft²) In total, the Amerigo Vespucci has 26 sails — square sails, staysails, and jibs: all are traditional canvas sails.
When sail sailing she can reach, under severe sea and wind conditions, a speed of 12 knots. She is the last of the tall ships with three decks and square rig to still survive as of today.
The standard crew of the Amerigo Vespucci comprises 16 officers, 70 non-commissioned officers, and 200 sailors. In summer, when she embarks the midshipmen of the Naval Academy (Accademia Navale), there's a total crew of about 400 persons aboard.
The Amerigo Vespucci has maintained active service except during the war of World War II. She has sailed around the world in 2002 but mostly cruises in European waters when training the crew.
