Ships based in RJ and PA carried out control of maritime area at the mouth of the Amazon
By First Lieutenant (RM2-T) Luciana Almeida – Belém, PA
Operation “CAMEX Delta do Amazonas” came to an end this Thursday (10). Since August 7th, a Brazilian Navy (MB, per its Portuguese acronym) Task Group (GT, per its Portuguese acronym) had the mission of controlling the maritime area of a restricted zone near the mouth of the Amazon River, in the northern region of the country. Carried out as part of the Amazon Summit’s security efforts, which took place on the 8th and 9th in the capital of Pará, “CAMEX” aimed to improve the training of the Squadron and the 4th Naval District Forces for the defense of the region.
Commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Squadron, Rear Admiral Antonio Braz de Souza, the WG was composed of the Multipurpose Aerodrome Ship (NAM) “Atlântico”, Frigate “Defensora” and a Combat Diver Detachment, belonging to the Brazilian Squadron, based in Niterói (RJ); as well as the Ocean Support Vessel “Iguatemi” and the Patrol Vessels “Bocaina” and “Guarujá”, members of the Northern Naval Patrol Group Command, based in Belém (PA). Three aircraft embarked on the NAM “Atlântico”, equipped with special sensors, such as radar and thermal imaging cameras, were also employed.
“The result achieved at CAMEX will give greater effectiveness to the control of the maritime area covered and greater safety of navigation in the region,” said Rear Admiral Antonio Braz.
In a Maritime Area Control operation, such as the one conducted at the mouth of the Amazon, a naval force carries out clarification actions, locating, identifying and accompanying vessels that are sailing in a given region, so that a larger command and control center, on board or ashore, has more detailed information about the reported contacts. This way, the responsible naval authority can decide on the appropriate actions for each case.
“In this way, we can compile all this presence of means at sea and, with that, send the information to the Squadron Operations Center (COE), which is in Rio de Janeiro. Thus, we demonstrate the pioneering nature of this operation, which aims to establish a control center on land that can effectively control naval assets that are operating thousands of kilometers from the current position, thanks to the satellite communications link and other communication platforms,” explained Lieutenant Commander Barcelos, Chief of Operations of NAM “Atlântico”.
He also pointed out that another important point of this operation was to act at the meeting of the Green Amazon with the Blue Amazon. “This intersection occurs at the mouth of the Amazon River, since the course of this river flows into the northern portion of our coast, which is a region that allows great penetration of ships into the interior of the Green Amazon. It is worth mentioning, therefore, that it is an area of great strategic importance for Brazil, and that it deserves all our attention”, he said.
The area around the mouth of the Amazon River is a special area from the defense point of view, which makes its strategic control essential to preserve the River Lines of Communication of the Amazon River Basin, and of them with the Atlantic Ocean.
Watch the video of Operation “CAMEX Delta do Amazonas”:
Source: Agência Marinha de Notícias