De italienske myndigheder har dog erklæret, at ovennævnte ændringer kun indirekte bidrog til at forsinke bygningen af skibet, og at forsinkelserne faktisk skyldtes naturkatastroferne, som betød, at det konsulentfirma, der skulle planlægge ændringerne af skib C.180 (ex C.173), ophævede kontrakten. (iii) Naturkatastroferne (jordskælv den 31.10.2002 og oversvømmelse fra den 23.1.2003—25.1.2003)
However, the Italian authorities point out that these changes have contributed only indirectly to delaying the construction of the ship and that the delay is, in fact, attributable to the impact of the natural disasters, which led to revocation of the contract by the consulting firm that had been hired to design the modifications to C.180 (ex C.173).(iii) Impact of natural disasters (earthquake of 31 October 2002 and floods of 23 to 25 January 2003)