Extensive maintenance and modernization work on the Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi is being completed months ahead of schedule.

The Italian Navy said on Friday that work on the carrier is now slated to be complete at the Taranto Arsenal, a Navy shipyard and base, on Nov. 10, instead of March of next year, when the ship completes post-refit sea trials.

"The advance of the completion date was made possible by the high degree of specialization and by the organizational and production skills of the firms of the arsenal's local naval engineering industrial base; the capability of the Arsenal's highly specialized workforce, the planning, rationalization and management ability of the arsenal's military personnel as well as an exceptional synergy at all levels between the crew and outside personnel, from private industry as well as the arsenal," the Navy said.

The work on the ship involved nearly all the ship's systems, including the propulsion system, which was replaced; the electric generation system; the flight deck; all the flight operations support systems; aircraft lifts and aircraft handling equipment; and combat system's sensors and weapons.

Work on the ship began in October of last year and carried a cost of about $14 million.