Francisco Alegre Duarte was speaking after a visit to the oceanic patrol ship "Viana do Castelo", in the port of Luanda, which will be visited on 7 May by Admiral Gouveia e Melo, describing it as "a fine example of excellence in Portuguese naval engineering ".
"Cooperation in the field of Defense is one of the structuring axes of our bilateral relationship and, in this context, the strengthening of ties between the Portuguese Navy and the Angolan Navy is one of the most promising areas in which we should invest," said the diplomat.
The ambassador highlighted that the activities to be carried out during the period in which the ship is in Angolan territorial waters aim to contribute to the strengthening of these ties, making known the capabilities and skills of one of the most recent ships of the Portuguese Navy.
To culminate this stay, the NRP "Viana do Castelo" will receive, on Saturday, the admiral and chief of staff of the Portuguese Navy, Gouveia e Melo, and a demonstration of the capabilities of the 'drones' of the Portuguese Navy, he announced.
"I believe that these contacts and exchanges of experiences between the two Navies can be very useful to strengthen the capabilities of the Angolan Navy, in order to strengthen its regional role, namely in a critical area such as the Gulf of Guinea", stressed Francisco Alegre Duarte .
The diplomat highlighted cooperation actions with the Angolan Navy, including diving operations, cross-training between Portuguese and Angolan marines, lectures and firefighting exercises.
The Portuguese Navy annually develops the "Open Sea Initiative", employing naval resources on the West African coast and in the Gulf of Guinea region in cooperation actions in the field of Defense.
In this context, the NRP "Viana do Castelo" docked on April 27 at the port of Lobito, marking the beginning of a series of activities, included in this initiative, and having docked this Wednesday at the commercial port of Luanda.
The ship's crew has more than 4000 miles covered and during the navigation period it was possible to guarantee the training of the team of the Marines' boarding platoon, as well as the performance of flight operations with the unmanned aerial vehicle "Spyro", from the detachment of 'drones' from the Portuguese Navy Helicopter Squadron.
