“The Portuguese Navy accompanied the passage of three ships from the Russian Federation, the Altay-class replenisher Aorl Kola, the LST-010 Ivan Gren landing ship and the LST-031 Ropucha-class landing ship Aleksandr Otrakovskiyhaving started in the early hours of March 22nd and ending today, March 24th, in the early hours of the morning”, reads the note sent to the newsrooms.
Credit: Portuguese Navy
The Navy indicates that “NRP Bartolomeu Dias and NRP Viana do Castelo were involved and, during their passage through the Mainland’s Exclusive Economic Zone, they closely monitored these ships and contributed to the permanent clarification of the situation”.Such missions, the statement continues, aim to “guarantee the security of national maritime spaces and contribute to collective defense within the framework of the Atlantic Alliance”.
“The Navy will continue to monitor the passage of this type of ships and monitor, through the action of the Maritime Operations Center, maritime spaces under national sovereignty or jurisdiction in order to ensure that no harmful activities are carried out for the country and to promote and protect Portugal’s interests at and through the sea”, concludes the Armada.
Credit: Portuguese Navy
In mid-February, the Portuguese Navy monitored, for two days, the passage of the Russian scientific vessel Akademik Aleksandr Karpinskiy off Madeira. A mission then carried out by 58 operators aboard the corvette NRP António Enes.
In December 2023, NRP Mondego had monitored the freighter AORL KAMA, from the Russian Federation, “after entering the Exclusive Economic Zone of Mainland Portugal”. AND the crew of the NRP Setúbal had accompanied, at the same time, two other Russian ships: the Kilo II submarine SSG-490 UFA and the Balk class tug ATS Sergey Balk.
Tags: Portuguese Navy watches Russian warships Exclusive Economic Zone
