The Brazilian Navy (MB) carried out the baptism and launching March 27th of the Submarine “Tonelero”, at the Itaguaí Naval Complex (RJ). The event marked the readiness of the construction process of the third Conventional Submarine with Diesel-Electric Propulsion (S-BR), built entirely in Brazil, within the scope of the Submarine Development Program (PROSUB), which is the result of a strategic partnership signed, in 2008, between Brazil and France, which provides for the transfer of technology in the military-naval area.
The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, accompanied by the President of France, Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron, the Minister of Defense, José Mucio Monteiro, the Commander of the Navy, Admiral Marcos Sampaio Olsen, and other representatives of the Admiralty. Ministers of State and other authorities were also present, as well as members of the defense industry and the scientific and technological community.
In his speech, President Lula highlighted the 200 years of diplomatic relations between Brazil and France, to be celebrated in 2025, and stated that he left, together with President Emmanuel Macron, from the heart of the Green Amazon, in Belém (PA), heading the other Amazon: the Blue Amazon. “In this shipyard, we glimpse the vastness of the 5.7 million km² of Brazilian maritime space, where 95% of foreign trade transits through the South Atlantic, and where there are natural resources and rich biodiversity that are still unexplored. From the Blue Amazon, we remove 75% of the natural gas and 45% of the fish produced in our country, and the protection of this natural heritage and the maintenance of the South Atlantic as a zone of peace and cooperation are central aspects of Brazilian foreign policy. Over the last 150 years, these national objectives have become reality with French support”, he celebrated.