ABSTRACT
Shipping activity has always constituted a great source of income for the South of Italy. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, Dutch, English, French and Ragusei navigated along the economically strategic routes, monopolising the commerce from Northern Europe towards the more important Mediterranean ports.1 A dense transportation network for the distribution of goods existed within the maritime space including - as Ruggiero Romano - in the stretch of sea between the Western coastline of Italy, the South of France, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily.2 The navy of the kingdom of Naples carried out an important role along these routes due to the presence of a locally qualified craftsmanship specialised in the construction of coasting vessels, with a build of around 120 tonnes at the end of the seventeenth century and reached and often exceeded 240 tonnes in the last 20 years ofthe eighteenth century.3
