On the Amerigo Vespucci, where you have to whistle to speak

(ANSA) - SINGAPORE, OCT 27 - (by correspondent Domenico Palesse) The white uniforms, lined up next to each other.
    A series of whistles in a time that seems to be suspended.
    Everything on board stops, motionless.
    The noises give way to silence.
    The only one allowed to 'speak' is the sea, which caresses the hull with its waves while the crew pays homage to the authorities who board or disembark the ship.
    A solemn, timeless moment, which the Amerigo Vespucci has the ability to amplify, with its wooden gangways, shiny brass and the majesty of its masts and sails.
    The "ceremonial" includes a different number and type of sounds based on the authority concerned.
    And so the "four to the band" is ordered for officers up to the rank of captain of the vessel, while the highest honors ("eight to the band") are reserved for the national flag, heads of state or the fallen.
    A custom, that of the trills of the whistle, which once served to call the number of sailors who would have to go down to the 'band' (that is, the handrail of the 'brandizzo', the ladder to enter the ship) to light the passage with their lanterns for the authorities.
    The number of lanterns was higher based on the rank, and therefore the seniority, of the authority who, therefore, would have needed more light to reach the ship.
    The tradition of whistling on board military ships has its roots in the past centuries when the only way to communicate was through the sound of a whistle, capable of overcoming the noise of the wind during navigation.
    The instrument is shaped like a small iron pipe, with a hole at the top through which to modulate the tone of the whistle.
    Every helmsman has one, his inseparable traveling companion that he jealously guards and then passes it on, perhaps one day, to a young cadet.
    But to 'play' the whistle requires experience and skill that matures over the years.
    An art codified through a real score on which future helmsmen practice, guided by what is considered the "orchestra conductor", the boatswain.
    On the Vespucci there are 85 helmsmen, five of whom are women, and they make up about a third of the crew.
    Considered the custodians of the seafaring art, they are the ones in charge of operations on board, among knots, ropes, sails and decks.
    They know every corner of the ship, every secret of a sailing ship like the jewel of the Navy.
    Every operation on board has a distinctive whistle, a command to be carried out only by listening to a sound.
    "It was the only way in the past to be able to 'talk' to each other without being overwhelmed by the wind - says the boatswain of the Vespucci, Luca Zanetti.
    "We are so used to using whistles that we are able to recognize a helmsman simply by the tone of his whistle".
    And there is someone on board who is also preparing a musical work, exclusively for whistles. (ANSA).