Commander of the NRP Mondego guarantees that there were “safety conditions” for the mission | navy

First Lieutenant Vasco Lopes Pires, commander of the ship NRP Mondego, said this Wednesday that last Saturday there were “safety conditions” for the ship to leave Funchal and fulfill its mission. He also informed that the faulty engine of the NRP Mondego It has already been properly repaired.

Last Saturday, the day on which the NRP (Ship of the Portuguese Republic) Mondego failed to carry out the mission of accompanying a Russian scientific ship off Madeira, the first lieutenant asked his officers to see if they “had the safety, material and personnel conditions” to set sail. These confirmed it, resulting in his order “to prepare the ship to leave as soon as possible”. The version was this Wednesday told to RTP1 by the captain of the ship.

“Military ships are equipped to always have redundancy – that is, if we have damaged equipment, this does not mean that we do not have safety”, he added, thus seeking to attest to the alleged safety of the ship. NRP Mondego.

Of the two existing engines on the ship, one was “inoperable”, having, however, been “repaired”: “The engine that was inoperative on Saturday was repaired on Sunday and is now undergoing tests to ensure that it has all the necessary capacity and power” , assured the first lieutenant. “The ship is always operational. At this moment, if we need to fulfill the mission, we have military capabilities, ”he added.

“50% of the garrison on my side”

Asked about the reasons invoked by the sailors who rebelled — which, he confirms, they will “highlight” —, the first lieutenant explained that he had communicated to them that, if necessary, he would “abort the mission”: “They claimed to feel insecure about personal level. At graduation, I told everyone to listen that we were going to leave and that if, at any time, I felt that I was going to endanger any soldier, I would return to Funchal and abort the mission.”

Even so, 13 soldiers did not want to board. “I had another 50% of the crew on my side — they were willing to,” says Lopes Pires.

On Saturday night, the NRP Mondego he was in charge of accompanying a Russian ship to the north of the island of Porto Santo. However, 13 of the elements (four sergeants and nine soldiers) that made up that garrison refused to embark for security reasons.

The Navy announced that it will proceed with disciplinary proceedings against the military and is currently inspecting the safety conditions of the Portuguese vessel. In addition to the inoperative engine, the Portuguese military also reported that an electrical power generator was in the same state.