The Minister of National Defence said that the Portuguese Navy’s ship ‘Mondego,’ which broke down in March, is now fully operational and back on active duty.
This confirms the information JM reported in last Thursday’s edition, a day after the patrol vessel left the Port of Funchal to begin the routine mission.
Speaking to journalists at the Alfeite naval base in Almada, Setúbal, captured by RTP, Helena Carreiras said that the ship had taken part in a training mission to the Selvagens Islands and had returned to Madeira without any problems.
“As before, this ship is in a position to fulfill its missions,” said the minister, who today participated in the launching ceremony of the ships ‘Setúbal’ and ‘Centauro’ to participate in the Open Sea Initiative and Training Mission of the São Tomé and Príncipe Coast Guard.
After the ‘Mondego’ aborted a mission to the Selvagens Islands at the end of March, due to a malfunction that the Navy attributed to “human error,” the official added that investigations are still underway to understand the technical issues onboard the ship.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
