Protocol approved ahead of Navy Day on May 20
Viana do Castelo City Council has approved a cooperation protocol between the municipality, the ports administration, and the Navy to install a naval support base in the city’s commercial port.
The document was unanimously approved at a regular meeting of the municipal council, held aboard the training ship Sagres today. The Sagres is docked in Viana do Castelo for the national Navy celebrations.
In presenting the agreement, Viana’s mayor Luís Nobre, said the municipality’s position in this protocol “is symbolic”, since the decision to install the naval base rests with the Navy and the Ports Authority of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL).
The process began about nine months ago with the previous Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Gouveia e Melo (now poised to announce his candidature for the Portuguese presidency), and has been continued by Admiral Jorge Manuel Nobre de Sousa.
It is a strategic decision that contributes to the recognition that the Navy has for Viana do Castelo, where the WestSea shipyards are constructing six Ocean Patrol Vessels (NPO).
For Luís Nobre, “the continued presence of the Navy will strengthen Viana do Castelo’s strategic position in the shipbuilding sector and could create conditions for the emergence of related activities, diversifying and improving the skills of the workforce”.
Around 1,100 military personnel will be participating in Navy Day celebrations in Viana do Castelo from Wednesday until May 20, “to strengthen ties with society.”
Navy Day is celebrated annually on May 20, the date that Vasco da Gama arrived in India in 1498.
The programme of celebrations, aimed at all ages and free of charge, has been conceived to promote direct contact between the population and the Navy.
Source material: LUSA
