On Tuesday, June 27, the Maritime Zone Patrol Vessel OPV “Comandante Toro” sailed from Valparaíso, a unit that will participate in the international operation UNITAS LXIV-2023 Colombia, with the purpose of increasing mutual cooperation between friendly navies and contributing to project the Chilean Navy as a relevant actor in the Pacific.
On board the Patrol Boat will also travel a naval helicopter of the HU-1 squadron and a squadron of Marines, who will participate in different activities, which will develop maritime, amphibious and Amazonian phases, focusing on natural disasters, humanitarian aid and training in the various areas of the Naval War.
In Valparaíso, the Unit was dismissed by the Commander of Naval Operations, Vice Admiral José Luis Fernández, who said “for the Institution it is tremendously relevant to participate in all international exercises and in particular the UNITAS exercise, since it is an operation that has been carried out since 1960, that is, there are more than 60 years of history of this exercise. It is a multinational exercise that allows us to interact with different friendly navies, this year more than 20 navies participate, so we will have the opportunity to interoperate with different components such as naval, aeronaval and Marine Corps units from other countries, from which to draw experiences of tactical procedures and also something very important that is mutual knowledge between the crews.”
For its Commander, Commander Daniel Kopaitic, “after an arduous preparation, the OPV Toro goes to sea, to participate in the 63rd version of UNITAS that will take place in Cartagena de Indias, an opportunity in which we will also participate in the Bicentennial of the Colombian Navy. For this, the crew is prepared to represent the Chilean Navy and our country in an environment of international exercises, mainly oriented to operate with Units of this type, in which it is maritime control and inspection, boarding exercises and I have no doubt that the endowment of the Toro OPV will be at the height of those required to leave the name of our country and of the Institution”.
The 2nd Corporal Nicol Sanhueza, endowment of the OPV Toro spoke about her expectations in the participation in the UNITAS exercise “I hope to be able to acquire experiences in the professional area and I think it is an instance in which not everyone has the opportunity to participate and the fact of going to another country fosters affection for the Institution and being able to leave our country well represented.”
It should be noted that the commission is framed in interacting in the international system based on the national interest and international defense commitments assumed by the country, which include humanitarian aid tasks and contribution to the preservation of world peace and security. It also considers disaster cooperation in other countries, confidence- and security-building measures and other contributions to foreign policy.