Michele Robazza; He loved the sea . He was born in Pistoia 45 years ago, on September 15, 1968, but was raised in Florence at the age of 14 he had greeted the parents with a dream in your heart, commanding a ship. E 'for this reason that he had enrolled at the technical nautical Caps, moving to Livorno. The next morning at school, in the afternoon between oratory and study the Salesians in the boarding school where he lived for all five years of high school.
After school had won the selection Academy for reserve officers and for two years had worn the uniform with the rank of ensign.Then leave and finally the first embarkation on the tanker fleet Gorgona D'Alesio 136 days of sailing around the world. Just an appetizer of what was for eight years of his life in the oceans around the world.
In 1999, after climbing the career officers to become "first" deck and have accumulated 900 days of navigation, here is the chance of a lifetime: the examination for pilots at the port of Genoa.Michele Robazza participates and wins. He accepted the position, but you do not ever move to Genoa, continuing to shuttle Livorno where he lives with his wife and two children where born, a 9 year old girl and a boy of 6.
Her shift would begin at 4 and a half hours of this morning. He left the house in Via San Gaetano greeting his wife and children yesterday evening, right after dinner. He was used to arrive early to rest in the pilot station and then start the work fresh, rested. An advance that yesterday turned out to be cursed.
The first people to know that among the dead in the disaster of the Jolly Nero was also Michele Robazza were his colleagues in Livorno. "They phoned the drivers of Genoa - says Massimiliano Wolves -. They gave us the news and asked us to accompany his wife. Wanted to be first to embrace them in this terrible moment. Knew him well, with some it was a very good friend. He often came to us and many times we had maneuvered his ships when he worked for D'Alesio. "
Colleagues Genoese Robazza arrived around 4 in the city of Livorno and the pilots have gone on Via San Gaetano in a visit that never wanted to do.
The Genoa harbour control tower, which collapsed after it was rammed by the Jolly Nero, housed various offices, including the harbour pilot company and the coastguard. According to rescuers, the collision took place during a change of shift, which makes it harder to establish with any precision how many people were on the wharf at the time. The 54 metre-high control tower dates from the Nineties and covered the whole of the north Tyrrhenian Sea. Its radar installation has a range of up to 30 or 40 miles.