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The defense minister said Saturday night that the Portuguese ship Zaire, which operates in the waters of São Tomé and Príncipe, is already known worldwide for fighting piracy, being praised by countries like China. João Gomes Cravinho assumed this position in a speech he gave at the end of a dinner in São Tomé, before the 26 Portuguese and 18 São Tomé from the garrison of the patrol ship, in addition to three members integrated into the Defense cooperation program.
“The ship Zaire He has been in São Tomé and Príncipe for three years and the prestige of his work transcends regional boundaries. There was an assault on a Chinese ship, you acted and Beijing expressed great appreciation, ”said the defense minister, referring to one of the ship’s recent and risky missions. The ship ZaireThe main missions of the Portuguese Navy are to reinforce the surveillance and inspection of the maritime spaces of São Tomé and Príncipe, the maritime security of the Gulf of Guinea and the training of the coast guard in this Portuguese-speaking country.
Before journalists, the Defense Minister highlighted the importance of the ship’s action Zaire, in an environment where crime is increasing in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea. “About 90% of piracy worldwide takes place in this expanded area and the presence of the ship Zaire in São Tomé and Príncipe it has a very important deterrent effect, ”said João Gomes Cravinho.
Also according to the Minister of Defense, “during these three years, the ship Zaire it has also participated in training missions, the garrison currently being made up of Portuguese and Santo Tomas (around a third) and has also contributed to helping ships in difficulty in the Gulf of Guinea ”.
“The Santo Tomé garrison is already in rotation. This means that they are not the first Saotomians to join the garrison. It is anticipated that, in the next two or three years, it will be possible to leave a very significant footprint in São Tomé and Príncipe and a high qualitative increase in terms of the capacity of the São Tomé Coast Guard ”, he declared.
Before dinner, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Admiral António Ribeiro da Silva, decorated the commander of the São Tomé coast guard, Pedro Barros, with the Cross of Saint George.
“It was a great pride to receive this award. I took on this mission ten months ago. We have a motto: the garrison is one and the same, there are no differences between the Portuguese and São Tomé ”, said the commander of the São Tomé and Príncipe coast guard. To highlight the difficulty of the mission, Pedro Barros highlighted the following data: São Tomé and Príncipe has a sea 160 times larger than its land ”.
