The Alexandria Port Authority, headed by Major General Ahmed Abdel Moaty Hawash - Chairman of the Board of Directors - hosted an international operatic concert on the passenger terminal pier on Saturday evening, February 15, 2025, as part of the celebration organized with the Italian side on the occasion of the docking of the Italian warship "Amarigo Vespucci" at the port during the period from 12-18/2/2025, which is classified as the most beautiful sailing ship in the world. The ceremony was attended by a number of maritime transport leaders at the Ministry of Transport, most notably Major General Nihad Shaheen - Deputy Minister of Transport for Maritime Transport - and Major General Ahmed Hawash - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Alexandria Port Authority - as well as the Italian side, the Ministers of Culture and Agriculture and the Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Egypt. The ceremony, which began at sunset on Saturday, February 15, 2025, witnessed a large attendance of maritime transport and tourism figures and a number of consuls and ambassadors of foreign countries. The ceremony began with the Egyptian and Italian national anthems, followed by welcoming speeches from the Italian side, including speeches by His Excellency the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Italian Ambassador, in addition to a number of prominent figures from both sides. It also included poetry segments and opera singing of the most prominent Italian heritage and artistic pieces. The interest of the Alexandria Port Authority in following up on all procedures and providing all possible facilities for the ship "Amarigo Vespucci" comes within the framework of the directives of Lieutenant General / Kamel Al-Wazir - Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Transport to encourage maritime tourism, enhance Egypt's role in the Mediterranean Sea, and support tourism movement in a way that serves the Egyptian economy and the historical status of the Arab Republic of Egypt. In this context, the Alexandria Port Authority opened its doors the day after the ship arrived at the giant marine passenger terminal in Alexandria Port, which is an architectural masterpiece, to receive visitors to the ship to see the ancient maritime heritage of the ship “Amarigo Vespucci”, which is one of the oldest and most famous sailing ships in the world, as it was built in 1931 and is a training ship for the Italian Navy in addition to having a long history of sailing around the world to introduce people to Italian maritime culture. Its length reaches 101 meters and its draft is 7.3 meters. It sailed on its world tour from the port of Genoa on July 1, 2023, visiting 31 countries and docking in 33 ports distributed across 5 continents. Alexandria Port is its last stop on its long journey that lasted nearly two years before returning to Italy.
