Built by VARD Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam as a PSV (Platform Supply Vessel) and acquired by NCT Offshore company in 2022 to be named MV Coco and used by Magellan company on long-term charter for ultra-deep-water operations with a range of underwater vehicles and equipment, the today named Tritone was acquired by Italian Navy with the aim of having a multi-purpose unit, capable of operating effectively both in military and civilian contexts. “It features adequate spaces that can be reconfigured depending on the mission, accommodating, moving, powering, and maintaining a variety of payloads (including unmanned aerial, surface, and underwater systems). This “modular” capability is crucial both for its versatility of use and for the future, allowing it to deploy systems that are always up to date without needing to modernize the entire parent platform,” explains the press statement.

In addition to act as a mothership for ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) and unmanned vehicles (USV, UAV, AUV), the ship can also embark specialized command and control systems for the surveillance of the underwater domain, alongside various deployable assets.

The main missions are surveillance and deterrence in defense of national strategic assets or critical underwater infrastructures (CUI), such as, submarine telecommunication cables, gas pipelines and offshore energy installations, and other submerged infrastructures vital for the economy and national security.