The ship “Mondego” is operational and has already completed a mission to Madeira

The Minister of National Defense said this Saturday that the Portuguese Navy ship Mondego, which was wrecked in March, is already on alert and has completed a mission in Madeira.

Speaking to reporters at Alfaite Naval Base in Almada, Setúbal, Helena Carreiras said the Mondego “has just completed a training mission” of several days to the Selvagens Islands in Madeira “and returned to Funchal without any incident. “.

“As before, this ship is ready to carry out its tasks,” said the minister, who this Saturday took part in the launching ceremony of the Setúbal and Centauro ships for the Open Seas Initiative and the coast guard training mission. . Sao Tome and Principe.

After the Mondego aborted a mission to the Selvagens Islands in late March due to a malfunction that the Navy attributed to “human error,” the official added that “the investigation process” is still ongoing to understand.” what exactly happened” with “a technical problem related to stopping the ship.”

The Mondego has been at the center of several controversies since early March, first when 13 soldiers refused to embark on a mission to escort a Russian ship off Madeira, and then later in the month due to a breakdown during the mission.

Asked whether the Inspectorate General of the Navy should be called in to analyze the case of the Mondego, Helena Carreiras replied that the procedures to be used in these cases had been called and that she “has full confidence in the authorities of the Navy, which competent to decide.

The Minister of Defense stressed that this is a one-time situation and that “one-off situations should be treated as such.”

“The Navy handled these cases properly, with proper disciplinary and investigative procedures. I followed the various stages closely,” he said, adding that the problems encountered were of a technical nature.

Helena Carreiras also reaffirmed what she had previously mentioned, that situations of insubordination and indiscipline “are unacceptable in the armed forces because they threaten cohesion and must be dealt with properly and dealt with by the navy.”

This Saturday, the minister praised the Navy personnel for carrying out their tasks with pride and a sense of mission, and assured that the Portuguese Navy had proven its ability to carry out its assigned tasks.

“The fact that there are some incidents and breakdowns should not be confused with a more global view, which I think is important for us. There are specific situations that have their own context,” he said.