OPV P-41 ‘Meteoro’ calls at the port of Praia during her deployment

• During the stopover, there was an open door's day.

The Offshore Patrol Vessel  ‘Meteoro’ has called at the Cape Verdean port of Praia, as part of the deployment of the Coordinated Maritime Presence in the West Coast of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea (CMP-GoG). This is the second time she has called at this port since her deployment began.

Upon her arrival in Praia, the ‘Meteoro’ received on board with honours the Spanish Ambassador to Cape Verde, Ana Paredes Prieto. Afterwards, a reception was held on board, organised by the Spanish Embassy in Cape Verde, aimed at military and civilian authorities.

Moreover, during the stopover, an open day was held to present the OPV ‘Meteoro’ to the Spanish community and Cape Verdean citizens living in Praia.

Defence Diplomacy Actions

The ambassador and the commander of the ‘Meteoro’, accompanied by a delegation from the ship, met with the Chief of Staff of the Cape Verde Armed Forces, Rear Admiral Antonio Duarte Monteiro.

They also visited the ‘Centro de Operações de Segurança Marítima’ (COSMAR), which is part of the Cape Verdean Coast Guard organisation. Afterwards, they met with the National Director of Defence, Maurino Évora, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence at the Government Palace in Praia.

Finally, they visited the Multinational Maritime Coordination Center, in charge of Zone G of the Yaoundé Architecture, located next to the port of Praia.

Military Cooperation Activities

Among the military cooperation activities carried out by the ‘Meteoro’ during its stopover in Praia, highlights included a diving exercise, a non-cooperative boarding for members of Special Operations and a cooperative boarding for the ‘Fuzileiros Navais’.

During the diving exercise, seven members of the Cape Verde Special Operations Unit participated in a dive with divers from the OPV ‘Meteoro’, after receiving safety briefings, decompression theory and operational planning. 

During the boarding and search activities on a vessel, 25 Cape Verdean troops from the Special Operations Unit and ‘Fuzileiros Navais’ participated in theoretical and practical lessons in cooperative and non-cooperative boarding, including interior movement, search, frisk and custody of evidence.