On 22 February 2017, the handover ceremony of the OCCAR-EA Director was held at the OCCAR-EA headquarters in Bonn.

The First Steel Cutting ceremony for the Multipurpose Patrol Ship (Pattugliatore Polivalente d’Altura - PPA) took place in FINCANTIERI’s shipyard, in La Spezia, on 13 February 2017.

The first important milestone in the OCCAR Logistic Support Ship (LSS) Programme was successfully achieved in February with the first steel cutting. The LSS Programme includes the Development, Production and ten years of In Service Support for the first ship of the Italian Navy fleet renewal plan, with delivery foreseen in 2019.

On 5 February, the OCCAR-EA Director and Mr Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General of NATO, signed the OCCAR-NATO Security Agreement at the NATO HQ in Brussels.