F.rancesca Vallerga, Genoese, 31, is a lieutenant and commander of Nave Capri, unit for the coastal transport of the Italian Navy. She entered the Naval Academy of Livorno in 2009, in 2014 she was embarked on the Cavour aircraft carrier and then on Nave Marceglia, a European Multi-Mission Frigate. From 14 September 2021 you are in command of Nave Capri, recently returned from a 5-month mission abroad.
At work with Francesca Vallerga, lieutenant and commander of Nave Capri.
7 hours
“I get up, I’m not that early in the morning. I do yoga, which helps me organize my thoughts and find the energy for the day. After a quick breakfast I walk – I don’t like the car – my ship, the Capri, in the port of Ancona. We of the Navy we work not on shifts like in the commercial sector, but on missions that last months, during which it never disembarks. I assumed command of Nave Capri in September 2021, and after five months we returned from the Mare Safe operational mission. The command lasts for a year, so in September I will have a new assignment. I’ve always loved the sea, perhaps because I’m from Genoa, and after high school I enrolled in the Naval Academy, graduated and then embarked. That was what I wanted to do, since I was a little girl. My goal is to provide a service for the country and to be able to work in a stimulating and highly innovative context. The dream: one day to command a frigate or an aircraft carrier“.
8 hours
«The first meeting begins with my collaborators, the managers of the various areas on board. There are 31 of us on the Capri, the crew is young, there are also twenty-year-old sailors. My second mate, my right arm, is another girl. A ship is a complex organization, sometimes isolated from the outside, and to function well you need effective communication, so that everyone goes in the same direction. The very concept of crew is based on cohesion and communication. It is a unique, demanding work environment that gives strong gratifications ».
Capri ship. The commander is Francesca Vallerga.
Francesca Vallerga: “My work is never repetitive”
13 hours
“Quick lunch on board. We eat well, we have good cooks. Then in the afternoon I participate in routine exercises. If we are sailing, the day is more demanding, but also more exciting. Nave Capri, 60 meters long, is used as a Coastal Transport Motorbike, that is, it carries out the logistical function of transporting materials and equipment along the coast; a complex operation especially for the distribution of weights on board which I decide personally, together with the technical staff. At sea we work 24 hours a day, on guard shifts, to navigate safely. Hours change, it becomes more difficult to meet. I spend most of my time on the bridge, where navigation is conducted, interrupted only by exercises and meetings. The ship is alive, the engines always running, and I can’t stop either. The beauty is that it is never repetitive work; we don’t do the same routes, every activity is different and attention must always be kept high ».
19 hours
Stranger Things, Francesca Vallerga’s favorite TV series. © Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
«If I’m in Ancona, I’ll stop and go to the swimming pool. Then I allow myself an aperitif with friends. If I’m on board, I work out at the gym and have dinner at 8pm. Later I watch a TV series in English, like Stranger Things or Obi-Wan Kenobi, or I’ll start reading some historical book about the great battles. Otherwise I dedicate myself to the study of foreign languages, a great passion of mine; in this period in particular to French and Chinese, which intrigue me ».
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